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Book 


Copyright N°. 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: 





A LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 





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“ YOU ARE A LITTLE HEROINE, AND I WISH YOU WERE MY OWN 

LITTLE GIRL.” — Pciije 2^5. 





LITTLE HEROINE SERIES 


A 

LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 

A YOUNG GIRL’S PATRIOTISM 
AND DARING 


BY 

ALICE TURNER CURTIS 


ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN HUYBERS 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO 


U6HARY oTcO NU R ESS 
TwoUookis deceive* 


JUL 6 



toglfO 

COPY 8. 


Published, August, 1908. 


Copyright, 1908, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 


All Rights Reserved. 


A Little Heroine of Illinois. 



Nortnooh $r«sis 

J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.8.A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. 

Edith’s New Home 




PAGE 

1 

II. 

The Walnut Grove 




16 

III. 

A Trip to the Corners 




27 

IV. 

Black Betty runs Away 




44 

V. 

Edith and Hamilton 




57 

YI. 

The Deserter . 




73 

YII. 

New Friends . 




84 

Yin. 

A Fox and a Fairy 




95 

IX. 

Bruin’s Visit . 




107 

X. 

A Visit to Bridge Bock 




124 

XI. 

David Disappears . 




137 

XII. 

The Making of a Hero 




148 

XIII. 

News from David . 




163 

XIV. 

Edith learns to ride Black Betty 


178 

XY. 

A Charade Party . 




194 

XYI. 

Edith’s Journey 




204 

XVII. 

The Invasion of Illinois 




221 

XVIII. 

A Cure for Lisping 




231 

XIX. 

The Hallowe’en Surprise 




244 


y 



ILLUSTRATIONS 


“YOU ARE A LITTLE HEROINE, AND I WISH YOU 
WERE OUR OWN LITTLE GIRL.” (Page 245) . 

Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

“I guess Betty knows I have come here to 

live ” 8 

“And our flag means more than that; it 

MEANS FREEDOM” 34 

“Are your folks at home, little girl?” . 66 

“Oh! You handsome fox!” .... 96 

Both David and Hamilton realized that 

THERE WAS NOT A MOMENT TO LOSE . . 132 

Then she would tell the boys stories of 

THE WORLD’S GREAT HEROES .... 140 

She realized that there was a walk of 

NEARLY TWENTY MILES BEFORE HER . . 218 


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A LITTLE HEROINE OF 
ILLINOIS 


CHAPTER I 
edith’s new home 

Xj^DITH AUSTIN stood in the doorway 
of a small house on the bluffs that 
faced toward the Mississippi River. Beside 
her rested a carpet-bag. It was made of 
flowered brussels carpet, and had handles of 
black leather, and it contained all the little 
girl’s possessions. She named them over to 
herself as she stood waiting for the team 
to come which was to take her to her new 
home : — 

“My round comb, my knife with a blade 
and a half a blade, my white stockings that 
I knit myself — ” Just here her thoughts 

1 


2 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


were interrupted by the appearance of her 
half-sister, Mrs. Stone. 

She was a tall, thin woman with small, 
sharp, brown eyes. Her thin, reddish- 
brown hair was drawn into a small knot on 
the top of her head. She looked down at 
Edith kindly. 

“Now you be a real good girl, Edith, 
while you are at Mrs. Freeman’s. You 
know Captain Freeman is away most of the 
time, so she wants you for company.” 

Edith nodded happily. She was think- 
ing about Mrs. Freeman, whom she had 
visited the summer before, and about the 
big, comfortable house, with its broad 
piazzas, and of the big barns and the 
shady trees. It seemed to her that noth- 
ing could be nicer than to live with Mrs. 
Freeman. 

“You can come and make me a visit in 
the fall,” went on Eliza. “I guess Mrs. 
Freeman will be willing.” 

Mr. Stone drove around the corner, and 


EDITH’S NEW HOME 


3 


Eliza put the carpet-bag into the back of 
the wagon, and Edith climbed up to the 
seat beside her brother-in-law and started 
off for her new home. 

Edith was ten years old. She could not 
remember her father and mother. Ever 
since she was a tiny baby she had lived with 
her sister, Mrs. Stone. The Stones, as Mrs. 
Freeman said, were “ great hands to move,” 
and Edith had crossed the Mississippi several 
times, for Mr. Stone had lived first in Illinois 
and then in Missouri, and his frequent 
moves had meant being ferried across the 
river. Mrs. Freeman had been kind to the 
family when they had lived near her home, 
and had now sent for Edith to come and 
make her a long visit, and had spoken of a 
wish to adopt the little girl. 

Edith made a good many promises to 
herself that morning as she rode toward her 
new home. 

It was nearly noon when the team reached 
the Freeman farm. Mrs. Freeman was at 


4 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


the door to welcome them, and gave Edith 
a kiss when the little girl ran up the steps. 

The first afternoon passed very quickly. 
Mrs. Freeman told Edith that she was to 
have the big front chamber, which was 
right across the small entry from Mrs. Free- 
man’s room. 

“ Why, that is your company room !” said 
Edith, looking about the big clean chamber, 
with its black walnut furniture, its three-ply 
carpet with wonderful red roses on a cream- 
colored background, and the muslin curtains 
trimmed with fringe, which hung at the 
windows. She wished that Eliza could 
have a nice bedroom like that. Eliza’s 
house only had three rooms. 

“Of course it is my company room,” said 
Mrs. Freeman, “and when I have company 
that I want to have stay a long time, I al- 
ways give them the best room.” 

The next morning, after they had had 
breakfast and Edith had helped set away 
the dishes, Mrs. Freeman brought up a big 


EDITH’S NEW HOME 


5 


jar of cream from the cellar. “This is my 
day to churn/’ she said to Edith, who sat 
by the window, looking out at the big bed of 
irises which were just blossoming. 

“Maybe sometime Mrs. Freeman will love 
me the same way that mothers love a little 
girl,” thought Edith. “And maybe I can 
do things so she will be glad I live with her. 
Eliza said I could.” Just then Edith’s 
thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Free- 
man’s pleasant laugh. 

“I do believe my little girl is ‘ wool- 
gathering,’” she said. 

‘ ‘ What is ‘ wool-gathering ’ ? ” asked Edith, 
soberly. 

“Oh, it is thinking of all sorts of things 
that may happen, or may not happen,” an- 
swered Mrs. Freeman. 

“Yes’m,” said Edith. “Then I was 
1 wool-gathering’ about you, but I can’t tell 
you what about until the wool-gatherings 
happen.” 

“Well, I think I am very fortunate to 


6 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


have a nice little girl come and live with me, 
especially now that I am all alone.” 

“ Where is Eben?” asked Edith, for Eben 
was the man who had always looked after 
Captain Freeman’s barns and taken care of 
the big black horse and the red Jersey cow. 

“Oh, Eben has gone to the War, the same 
as my husband has,” said Mrs. Freeman; 
“and you and I will have to take care of 
Black Betty and of Posy.” 

“Is ‘Posy’ the cow’s name?” asked 
Edith. 

“Yes; she eats so many clover blossoms 
she ought to be a posy, oughtn’t she?” said 
Mrs. Freeman. 

There was no house in sight from the 
Freemans’. The next neighbor lived nearly 
three miles away; but neither Mrs. Freeman 
nor Edith thought of being afraid, although 
it was just at the beginning of the Civil 
War, and there were many rumors that the 
Confederate soldiers intended to invade 
Illinois. But Mrs. Freeman was a coura- 


EDITH'S NEW HOME 


7 


geous woman and gave little thought to 
the numerous stories that seemed to have 
little foundation. 

“I have to make butter this morning/' 
said Mrs. Freeman, “and while I churn 
I want you to take this dish of corn out 
and feed the chickens; and just look and 
see if Black Betty is all right." 

“Oh, yes'm," said Edith, and, taking the 
dish of corn, she went across the yard to the 
big hen-yard just beyond the barns. In the 
small field near the barns Posy was feeding, 
and Black Betty stood near the barn-yard 
fence. 

“I guess Betty knows I have come here 
to live," thought the little girl, as Betty 
neighed and bent her handsome head to be 
petted. 

Edith shook the corn about in the tin pan, 
and flung handfuls of it into the yard to 
the chickens, who scrambled after it eagerly. 
She tried to count them, but they chased 
each other about and got so mixed up that 


8 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


she gave it up, and began to think of Mrs. 
Freeman. 

“I’m glad her hair is so wavy about her 
face,” thought Edith ; “and I’m going to do 
everything I can so she will love me the 
same as mothers do. Perhaps I could save 
her life, or — or something. Anyway, it’s 
lucky I came here to live now Eben’s gone, 
because I can help her do things and be 
company.” 

As Edith went toward the house she 
could hear the “chug, chug” of the churn- 
dasher as Mrs. Freeman worked vigorously, 
and in the distance she heard the rumble 
and creak of wheels. The little girl stopped 
to listen. Yes, it was surely the sound of a 
heavy wagon coming over the rough road, 
and she could hear some one singing. 

“Mrs. Freeman!” she exclaimed, running 
into the kitchen. “I can hear wheels com- 
ing up the road and some one singing !” 

“Can you, dearie? Well, I wouldn’t dare 
leave my churn just now, so you just run 



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Page 7. 


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EDITH'S NEW HOME 


9 


’round the corner of the house and see what 
you can see. Perhaps we're going to have 
company to dinner." 

Edith ran around the house and looked 
down the road. She could see a big covered 
cart drawn by two oxen coming slowly along. 
A boy of not more than fourteen or fifteen 
years was on the front seat of the cart and 
was singing in a loud voice : — 

“ Hi Betty Martin, tiptoe fine, 

She can’t get a husband to suit her mind.” 

Edith watched the cart, and, as it ap- 
proached, she could see sticking out from 
the sides the long muzzles of guns. 

The boy stopped singing as his alert eyes 
caught sight of the little girl, and he turned 
toward the inside of the wagon and said: 
“Lie still, and make up your sleep. It's 
the house of a friend." 

A muttered response seemed to come from 
the wagon. 

“Hello!" called the boy, stopping his 


10 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


team nearly in front of the house. “Who 
lives here?” 

Edith could see that it was only a boy 
and that he had a freckled face and red hair, 
and some way her fright faded away. 

“7 live here,” she said boldly, determined 
to protect Mrs. Freeman. “What do you 
want?” 

“Sho, now!” drawled the boy, leaning 
forward and looking smilingly down at the 
straight little figure in the blue gingham 
gown, and noting approvingly that she too 
had red hair and a freckled face. “Ain't we 
some pumpkins ! Run into the house, little 
girl, and tell your father a gentleman wants 
to speak to him.” 

“You start right along,” responded Edith. 
“I guess you don't want a dog set on you, 
do you?” 

The boy laughed. “Do you s'pose I'm 
afraid of dogs?” he answered scornfully. 
“Why, what do you s'pose I've got in that 
wagon?” 


EDITH’S NEW HOME 


11 


“Guns,” responded Edith, “and men 
asleep. I can see the guns, and I heard 
you tell the men to go to sleep. But I ain’t 
scared of you,” she continued bravely, “and 
you’d better start your oxen up, for soldiers 
live here.” 

‘ ‘ Soldiers ! ” exclaimed the boy, straighten- 
ing up on the seat. 

Edith nodded. “And like as not they’ll 
take your old team away from you when 
they get home!” 

The boy laughed and jumped to the 
ground. “I’ll be gone when they get home, 
smarty,” he said; and looking toward the 
wagon, he called out, “All right, men; take 
your guns and come on.” 

“Is it the enemy?” came the muffled 
response. 

Edith stood shaking with terror. The 
boy turned and looked at her, and his laugh- 
ing face grew sober. 

“Don’t be scared,” he said; “there ain’t 
a man in that wagon.” 


12 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“I — I — heard them,” said Edith. She 
was holding the tin pan in front of her like 
a shield, and looked at him accusingly. 

‘ ‘ Come and look, ’ ’ said the boy. ‘ 1 Honest, 
there isn’t a soul in the wagon. It’s 
full of provisions, and those ain’t guns, 
they’re just smooth round pieces of wood 
painted black and stuck in under the 
cover. You just look.” So Edith cau- 
tiously approached the wagon and peered 
in. Sure enough, not a man was to be 
seen. The wagon was closely packed with 
boxes and bags and barrels. And what 
Edith had taken for the barrels of guns 
were, as the boy had said, smooth round 
pieces of wood. 

“I heard the men,” she said, looking at 
him. 

“That was me,” replied the boy, grinning 
with delight. “I’m a ventriloquist.” 

“What’s that?” asked Edith. 

“Oh, it’s talking like other people. A 
half-breed Indian taught me last summer.” 


EDITH’S NEW HOME 


13 


Just then Mrs. Freeman came around the 
corner. She noticed the wagon with the 
protruding guns, and saw the boy standing 
near Edith, but she came smilingly forward. 

The boy took off his hat as she approached. 
“I was telling your little girl about being a 
ventriloquist,” he said. “And those ain’t 
guns in my wagon, they are only make- 
believe. I’ve been to Alto Pass after pro- 
visions. My father has gone to the War,” 
continued the boy, “and my mother and I 
live alone on the ranch; she was frightened 
to have me go alone, so I fixed up the wagon 
this way.” 

“Well,” said Mrs. Freeman, “I should 
think you were a pretty smart boy. What 
is your name?” 

“Hamilton Worthley,” said the boy. 

“Then I ought to know you,” said Mrs. 
Freeman, “for I know your mother. Un- 
yoke your oxen, Hamilton, and drive them 
around to the barn and feed them, and you 
come in and stay to dinner with us.” 


14 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“I'd like to,” said the boy, “but I 
mustn’t stop; I’ve got six miles more to 
go, and I know mother is watching for me 
every minute. Oxen travel slow,” he con- 
cluded, with his pleasant laugh, as he climbed 
back to his seat and started the team. 

Mrs. Freeman and Edith watched him for 
a few minutes. 

“That’s what I call a real smart boy,” 
said Mrs. Freeman. 

“He’s got red hair,” said Edith. 

“But not such pretty red hair as yours,” 
responded Mrs. Freeman, “for his is just 
straight red hair, and yours is like shining 
gold,” and she stroked the golden locks 
tenderly. 

Edith sighed happily. “Oh,” she said, 
“I hope Eliza won’t ever want me to come 
and live with her.” 

Mrs. Freeman laughed. “Perhaps she 
won’t. Anyway, you and I must see about 
dinner. My butter is all ready to work and 
is hard as can be.” 


EDITH’S NEW HOME 


15 


“That boy thought I was your little girl, 
didn’t he?” said Edith. 

“Well, so you are,” said Mrs. Freeman; 
“and some day we will hitch Black Betty 
into the wagon, and we will drive over and 
see the Worthleys.” 

“And shall you tell the boy then that I 
am not your little girl?” asked Edith, a 
little wistfully. 

Mrs. Freeman looked down into the up- 
turned face. “I shall tell them that I wish 
you were my own little girl, and that I love 
you just as much as if you were,” said the 
kind-hearted woman. 

Edith was sure that this had been the 
happiest day of her life. When she went 
to bed, Mrs. Freeman said, “I have a plan 
for to-morrow for us to have a nice time,” 
and Edith went to sleep wondering what it 
could be. 

She was up bright and early, and Mrs. 
Freeman had breakfast all ready when she 
came into the kitchen. 


CHAPTER II 


THE WALNUT GROVE 

“ T THINK that we must have a little 
celebration to-day,” said Mrs. Free- 
man, smilingly. “It is so bright and pleas- 
ant that we will be out of doors all we can. 
I know the nicest, shadiest place not a mile 
away, where we could go and stay all day, 
and where wild strawberries grow, not far 
from the big walnut grove where we can 
have our lunch.” 

Edith listened eagerly to this delightful 
plan; and after all the chores were done, 
Mrs. Freeman went into the pantry and 
came out with two small baskets, one of 
which she handed to Edith. 

“These baskets were made by the In- 
dians,” she said as they walked across the 
yard past the barns and down toward a long 
10 


THE WALNUT GROVE 17 

hay-shed, which could not be seen from the 
house. 

“When we first lived here, long before we 
built this house,” said Mrs. Freeman, “a 
little party of Indians used to camp just 
where this hay-shed stands. The squaws 
would gather the sweet grass that grows 
here, and they made trips about the coun- 
try, selling baskets to the farmers’ wives. 
They generally stayed here several weeks, 
and we were always glad enough to see the 
last of them.” 

Edith looked at her basket more care- 
fully, and noticed how skilfully it was 
made. It was woven of brown reeds with a 
pattern of blue and red grasses twisted 
around the top, a tight little cover fitted on 
smoothly, and there was a substantial 
handle. 

“I guess there is something in my 
basket,” she said. 

“Indeed there is; part of our celebration 
is in that basket, and part of the celebration 


18 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


is in my basket,” said Mrs. Freeman, smiling 
at Edith and swinging her basket. 

“Now we mustn’t forget to have a good 
time,” she continued. “We must both 
think of all the pleasant things we can, and 
whenever we look at each other we must 
smile.” 

This made them both laugh, and they 
walked across the fields toward the walnut 
grove, swinging their baskets; and Edith 
was sure that she was the happiest girl in 
the entire State. 

“I guess I don’t know what a celebration 
is,” she said as they walked along. 

“Well,” said Mrs. Freeman, “a celebration 
is usually a great affair. When some dis- 
tinguished man, like the governor of a 
State, comes to visit a town, why then the 
people want to show how glad they are to 
see him, and they usually have a dinner for 
him and make speeches telling him how 
welcome he is ; and they call that a celebra- 
tion.” 


THE WALNUT GROVE 


19 


“And are you having this celebration be- 
cause I have come to visit you?” asked 
Edith, a little shyly. 

“That’s just exactly the reason,” replied 
Mrs. Freeman, “and at dinner I shall make 
a speech and tell you so ; and then you will 
have to respond and say how happy you are 
to be here, and that you think this is one of 
the most delightful places, and these are 
the nicest people you ever saw.” 

“That’s just what I do think,” said Edith. 

“There, now our speeches are all made 
without waiting for dinner,” said Mrs. 
Freeman, “and we shall have more time to 
pick strawberries.” 

They soon began to look for the fragrant 
berries, and Mrs. Freeman took two tin 
cups from her basket and gave one to 
Edith. “We will pick just these cups full 
to eat with our luncheon,” she said, “and 
then on our way home we can gather enough 
for tea.” 

When the cups were filled, Mrs. Freeman 


20 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


led the way toward the walnut grove, and 
they were both glad to sit down and rest. 

“I have heard that fairies always like to 
live in the woods,” said Mrs. Freeman, with 
a smiling nod; “and if you will sit just 
here, Edith,” pointing to some smooth 
grass close beside her, “I will tell you all 
about fairies and about a Prince Tinkletoes, 
who very likely lived right in this grove. ” 

Edith sat down very near to Mrs. Free- 
man and listened eagerly. 

“Fairies, you know,” began Mrs. Free- 
man, “are little people about as big as my 
thumb, and there are wise folks who say 
that there are no such things as fairies, so 
everybody has to decide about it for him- 
self. But on celebrations it is an excel- 
lent plan to make believe that there are 
good fairies everywhere, doing all sorts of 
pleasant things for everybody; and this 
Prince Tinkletoes was the very best fairy 
possible. He wanted to make everybody 
happy, and he wanted to whisper to grown- 


THE WALNUT GROVE 


21 


up people whenever he saw them, to tell 
them of nice things that they could do for 
children and for old people. The reason 
that he was called Tinkletoes was that on 
each one of his tiny toes was a tiny bell, 
hardly larger than a pinhead, and as he 
tripped about they made the sweetest, 
faintest music; and only people who be- 
lieved in fairies could hear it. 

“Well, one day Prince Tinkletoes said to 
himself, ‘I must go up to the Freemans' and 
see what's going on.' So he called up a big 
yellow butterfly and sat down comfortably 
on its back, for Prince Tinkletoes was not 
much larger than a good-sized fly, and he 
said, ‘Go straight to the Freeman house.' 
When he arrived I was taking a nap, but he 
perched on my ear and he began to whisper, 
and the little bells on his toes made such a 
silvery whisper that I listened." 

“What did he say?" questioned Edith, 
leaning toward Mrs. Freeman. 

“He whispered about you," said Mrs. 


22 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Freeman. “He told me how pretty your 
hair was, and how much I would enjoy 
having you make me a visit; and he said 
that you would like to come.” 

“How did he know?” asked Edith. 

“Fairies know everything,” said Mrs. 
Freeman, “at least good fairies like Tinkle- 
toes do ; and if you ever hear a silvery little 
tinkle, and then a little whisper comes to 
you to do something kind for some one, you 
can know that it is Prince Tinkletoes.” 

“Pm glad he whispered to you about me,” 
said Edith, “because he might have whis- 
pered about some other little girl.” 

“Why, I am glad, too,” said Mrs. Free- 
man. “Now we must open our baskets 
and spread out our luncheon.” There were 
nice little biscuits, a bottle of milk, and 
some sugar cookies, and with the fresh 
strawberries Edith declared that it was the 
nicest lunch she had ever eaten. 

“I begin to feel like a little girl myself,” 
said Mrs. Freeman. “How would you like 


THE WALNUT GROVE 


23 


a game of hide-and-seek? I’ll stand with 
my face close to this tree and you hide and 
then I’ll find you.” 

So Edith tiptoed carefully around one or 
two trees, then ran a little way, and then 
called “Coo-ee, coo-ee,” making her voice 
sound as far off as possible; and in a mo- 
ment she saw Mrs. Freeman looking about 
here and there, but never in the right place, 
until Edith’s laugh sent her running in the 
right direction and Edith was caught fast. 

After a while they tired of running about 
and were glad to rest under the big tree 
where they had eaten their lunch. Then 
they started for home, picking strawberries 
along the way. 

“It’s been a lovely celebration,” said 
Edith when they reached home, “and I shall 
remember about my good fairy, Prince 
Tinkletoes.” 

That evening, as they sat together, Mrs. 
Freeman told Edith about the little log 
cabin that had been her home when they 


24 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


first came to live in Illinois. “It had only 
two rooms,” she said, “but they were such 
♦ pleasant rooms. The house stood just 
where this one stands, and I had to be 
alone a great deal then, for Captain Freeman 
was away looking for mines.” 

“Were you ever afraid?” asked Edith. 

“No, I don't think that I was afraid, but 
I was often lonely. We had a collie dog 
named Bounce, who was company as well 
as a protector. He would not let any one 
come near the house unless I said so. Do 
you want me to tell you a funny story about 
Bounce?” 

“Yes, indeed,” said Edith. 

“Well, he didn't like other dogs very 
well, and when now and then one would go. 
by the house, following a wagon, Bounce 
would bark and bark at it; and when we 
had visitors who brought a dog with them, 
Bounce would act as unhappy as possible. 
He would not make friends with any visiting 
dog, but would sulk about all day. One 


THE WALNUT GROVE 


25 


morning Bounce was missing for several 
hours, and when he came back he acted in 
such a queer manner that I was worried. 
He would take hold of my skirt and try 
to draw me toward the road, then he 
would run down the road a little way and 
bark; and at last I made up my mind to 
follow him. I followed him nearly a mile 
down the road, and what do you suppose I 
found ?” 

Edith shook her head. “It wasn’t a little 
girl, was it?” she asked eagerly. 

“No, it wasn’t a little girl, but close be- 
side an old log near the road lay a dog, and 
such a pitiful-looking creature as it was. It 
was evidently tired out and hungry, for 
when it stood up it trembled all over. It 
wagged its tail in the most friendly way 
when Bounce went jumping about it. Well, 
I came home again and carried the poor 
thing some food and water, and in a little 
while it crept slowly along the road and 
followed Bounce into the yard. After that 


26 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Bounce devoted himself to his new friend, 
sharing every bone with him and giving up 
his own sunny place near the corner of the 
house to the new dog, which gradually 
gained in flesh and strength and came to be 
a very good-looking dog. It followed 
Bounce’s example about barking, and 
tagged Bounce everywhere. I think it was 
a very old dog, however, as it only lived a 
year after Bounce adopted it.” 

“ Where is Bounce ? ” asked Edith. 

“Bounce lived out his days very happily 
right here,” replied Mrs. Freeman. “But 
I often wonder how a dog knew enough to 
go to the rescue of another dog, and to help 
him to a good home.” 

“I know,” said Edith. “Prince Tinkle- 
toes whispered in Bounce’s ear.” 

“Perhaps he did,” responded Mrs. Free- 
man, with a little laugh. 


CHAPTER III 


A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 

T HE morning after the celebration Mrs. 

Freeman came into Edith’s room just 
as the little girl opened her eyes. 

“Well,” she said, leaning over and kiss- 
ing her good morning, “I wonder what we 
can do to-day? Can my little girl make 
up her own bed after breakfast?” 

“Yes, indeed,” said Edith. “I can make 
it up just as smooth,” for she was afraid that 
Mrs. Freeman might think she would be 
a trouble to her. “I always comb my hair, 
and I helped Eliza a lot.” 

Edith sat up in bed and looked at Mrs. 
Freeman, who was smiling down on her. 

“Then jump right up,” said Mrs. Free- 
man. “There is a nice pitcherful of cold 
water on the washstand, and as soon as 
27 


28 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


you are ready, come down to breakfast. 
I’ve got something nice for you.” 

Edith wondered what was waiting for 
her, and hurried through her bath and 
brushed her hair as quickly as possible, 
and ran downstairs into the big kitchen. 

The little round table was drawn up be- 
tween the two open windows. Before each 
plate stood a covered dish, and in the centre 
of the table was a glass tumbler with a 
beautiful purple iris in it. 

“Sit down, my dear, and shut your eyes 
till I say ready,” said Mrs. Freeman. 

So Edith sat down at the table and shut 
her eyes very tight. She heard a little 
rattle of plates and then Mrs. Freeman 
said “Ready !” and she opened her eyes. 

“Oh, my!” said Edith, for standing 
on the table right in front of her was a 
gingerbread girl with currants for eyes, 
a raisin for a nose, and a piece of citron for 
a mouth. 

“But that is not to be eaten until we 


A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 29 


have finished our eggs and toast,” said Mrs. 
Freeman. 

“Oh, I shan’t want to eat it,” said 
Edith. “Why, it looks like a doll, doesn’t 
it?” 

“Pity sakes, child!” exclaimed Mrs. Free- 
man, “didn’t you ever see a doll?” 

“Not a real, truly doll,” answered Edith. 
“When I was a little girl I had a little shawl 
all tied up so that it was ’most as good as 
a doll. I called it Grace. I guess I shall 
call this one Grace.” 

1 1 Pity sakes ! ” said Mrs. Freeman. ‘ ' Why, 
you must have a doll the first thing, a real 
china doll, but I shall have to send for it, 
and like as not it won’t get here for a week 
or two, and what will you do till then?” 

“Why, I’ll have this one,” said Edith. 

“No,” said Mrs. Freeman, “that is for 
you to eat. If you try to keep it, it will get 
all crumbly, so bite off its head and see if 
it isn’t sweet.” 

Edith bit off the gingerbread doll’s head, 


30 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


and forgot that she had ever wanted to 
keep it. 

“Oh, dear,” said Mrs. Freeman after 
breakfast. “My poor vegetables need weed- 
ing and watering. I don’t know what we 
will do for garden stuff later on, for there is 
not a man to be had ; every one has gone to 
the War.” 

“What is the War?” asked Edith. 

“It’s a misfortune, my dear, as I look 
at it,” said Mrs. Freeman, “but like all 
troubles, it must be borne bravely; and 
my part of it seems to be to try and keep 
this place in good condition, so I’m going 
out to weed the vegetables this morning, 
and you can help me, and this afternoon 
we will see what we can do about a doll.” 

Mrs. Freeman’s vegetable garden was 
just back of the house. There were rows 
of cabbages and turnips; young beets grew 
thickly, so that Mrs. Freeman said they 
must be thinned out for greens. Green 
peas and string beans were sending up their 


A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 31 


tender growths, and carrots and onions were 
well started. In a distant corner there was 
a row of currant bushes, and behind these 
was the herb garden, where grew penny- 
royal, thyme, and sage, and where a hop vine 
climbed up a strong pole set there for its 
convenience. 

Beyond the herb garden was a potato 
patch, and Mrs. Freeman looked at this 
rather anxiously ; but this morning she 
thinned out the beet bed, weeded among 
the carrots and onions, and sent Edith back 
and forth from garden to hen-yard with a 
basket filled with weeds for the chickens. 
As Edith went back and forth she could 
see Black Betty feeding, and thought how 
glossy and fat the big horse was. 

“ Betty is real fat, isn’t she?” she said 
as she and Mrs. Freeman walked toward 
the house. 

Mrs. Freeman stopped and looked at 
the black horse. “ Betty needs exercise,” 
she answered, “and I tell you just what 


32 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


we will do. We will drive to The Corners 
this very afternoon. It is only four miles, 
and perhaps I may get a letter from John 
or hear some news ; and who knows but that 
the storekeeper may have a doll for sale?” 
and she smiled down at Edith’s eager face. 

Edith gave a little skip, and said, “For 
me?” 

“Yes, indeed. And if he has a doll, 
why, I suppose we shall have to make clothes 
for it, and in my closet is a piece-bag, and 
in that piece-bag are bits of ribbon and 
muslin, and perhaps of silk. And as soon 
as we get the doll we’ll make her the most 
beautiful clothes ! I hope you brought 
your thimble, Edith.” 

“I never had a thimble,” said Edith. 

“Then you must have one this very day,” 
said Mrs. Freeman. “I see that we must 
surely go to The Corners.” 

Early that afternoon Black Betty was 
hitched to the covered buggy, and Mrs. 
Freeman and Edith started on their ex- 


A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 33 


pedition. Betty felt rather frisky, and Edith 
had never ridden so rapidly. But she en- 
joyed watching the fine horse, and when 
she looked at Mrs. Freeman she smiled 
happily, and thought to herself that no one 
could be lovelier than Mrs. Freeman. She 
thought how pretty Mrs. Freeman’s fresh 
calico dress was, and was very glad that 
she had worn her own white knit cotton 
stockings, for she could see glimpses of 
Mrs. Freeman’s white knit stockings below 
the hem of the pretty calico. 

The Corners was a dull little settlement 
situated at a cross-roads. There was a 
long, rambling, shed-like building which 
served for a store, and where the post-office 
was located. Then there were two other 
buildings — a blacksmith shop, and a school- 
house, and one or two unpainted houses. 

Mrs. Freeman had several small purchases 
to make, and when she asked the store- 
keeper if he had such a thing as a doll, 
Edith held her breath in suspense. 


34 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“Why, yes, I b’lieve there’s a couple 
somewheres around,” answered the store- 
keeper, and after a search through a num- 
ber of boxes he brought out two dolls 
wrapped in white tissue paper. When he 
unrolled them and held them up, Edith 
thought that she had never seen anything 
so lovely. 

The dolls were of the same size. One 
had black painted ringlets on its china head, 
and black eyes and a smiling red mouth 
and beautiful red cheeks. The other had 
yellow ringlets and blue eyes and a smiling 
pink mouth and pink cheeks. 

“Which do you like best?” asked Mrs. 
Freeman, taking up the doll with the yellow 
hair. 

“I don’t know,” said Edith, softly, “but 
I guess I like the black-haired one best.” 

“Then the black-haired one is yours,” 
said Mrs. Freeman, “and you can carry 
it home instead of having it wrapped up, 
if you want to.” 



“ And ouk flag means more than that; it means freedom 

Page 35. 


59 


I 




# 











A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 35 


“Oh, yes/’ said Edith, taking up the doll 
carefully. 

“We must not forget the thimble," said 
Mrs. Freeman, and the storekeeper took 
out a box of bright steel thimbles and found 
one that just fitted Edith's second finger. 

Mrs. Freeman was disappointed because 
there was no letter from Captain Freeman. 
The storekeeper had no news of the army. 
“But I keep the Union flag flying/ 7 he said, 
“and I shall as long as I have a flagpole. 77 

“That's right/ 7 said Mrs. Freeman. 

When they were ready to start for home, 
Edith looked up at the flag which waved 
from the top of a tall pole near the store. 
“What is a flag for? 77 she asked. 

“To remind us that all men are brothers," 
said Mrs. Freeman. “And our flag," she 
added, with a little tremor in her voice, 
“means more than that; it means freedom." 

“Oh!" said Edith, a little puzzled, and 
thinking more about the wonderful new doll 
and the bright thimble than of anything else. 


36 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“Some day we must ask Mrs. Jones to 
bring her little girls over to see us,” said 
Mrs. Freeman. “They are twins, Kitty 
and Puss, and they look exactly alike.” 

“Are they little girls?” asked Edith. 

“Not quite as large as you are,” replied 
Mrs. Freeman, “and about a year younger.” 

“I hope they will come soon,” said Edith. 
“I guess Prince Tinkletoes whispered to 
you about little girls, didn’t he?” 

“What makes you think so?” questioned 
Mrs. Freeman, smilingly. 

“Because I have always wished that I 
could have a doll and some little girls to 
play with,” answered Edith, “and now you 
have given me the doll and thought about 
two little girls.” 

“Of course I have,” responded Mrs. Free- 
man. “That is, of course it really was 
Prince Tinkletoes who thought to remind 
me that Kitty and Puss would be so glad 
to have a nice little girl to play with.” 

Edith smiled happily at this, and wished 


A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 37 


that Eliza could know how many pleasant 
things were happening to her. 

When they reached home and drove into 
the yard, Mrs. Freeman exclaimed: — 

“ There! What do you suppose I have 
done? Our front door has a spring lock, 
and I went away and left my keys inside. 
Here we are locked out of house and home !” 

“ Can’t I climb in a window?” asked 
Edith. 

“I carefully fastened every window,” 
replied Mrs. Freeman, “but we can put the 
ladder up to the shed-chamber window. 
Would you dare go up a ladder?” 

“Yes, indeed,” said Edith. “HI put 
Grace on the porch.” 

A long ladder was in the shed, and Mrs. 
Freeman and Edith had soon raised it 
against the chamber window, and Edith 
climbed bravely up. The window was open, 
and she crawled carefully through, and soon 
ran downstairs and opened the back door. 

“What would I have done if I had been 


38 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


alone !” said Mrs. Freeman. “I never could 
have squeezed through that window. I 
think I am very lucky to have such a brave 
little girl.” 

Edith flushed happily. “ Perhaps some- 
time I can do something really brave to help 
you,” she said. 

“Well,” said Mrs. Freeman, “I call it 
really brave to go up that ladder. Now 
we must fly around and do our chores. 
I wish we had a nice likely kitten; I believe 
you would like a kitten, wouldn’t you, 
Edith?” 

“Oh, yes!” said Edith. 

The piece-bag about which Mrs. Freeman 
had told Edith was brought out the next 
day and was found to contain enough blue- 
sprigged muslin to make Grace a dress. 
Then there were some pieces of white cambric 
that were just right for underclothes. 

“I will cut out some patterns for Grace’s 
clothes,” said Mrs. Freeman, “and then you 
can cut out the dress and skirts yourself. 


A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 39 


Keep the patterns so that you can make 
Grace a new gown at any time. We will 
take our work out on the back porch, for 
I want to keep an eye on my chickens. 
One disappeared last night.” 

Edith was too much interested in the 
patterns and the pretty pieces of muslin, 
silk, and cambric, to think much about the 
chickens. 

“ While you are busy with Grace I will 
just run out and see how my goslings are 
getting on,” said Mrs Freeman. She was 
gone only a few minutes and returned with 
something carefully wrapped in her apron. 
It was a sick gosling. “We shall have to 
keep this one in the house for a while,” she 
said, and Edith left her doll long enough to 
watch Mrs. Freeman make a soft nest of 
warm cotton batting in an old basket which 
she put in the sunny window. 

“Perhaps a tame gosling will be as good 
as a kitten,” Mrs. Freeman said, as they 
went back to the porch. “We will see if 


40 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


we can’t teach it to grow into an accom- 
plished and polite goose.” 

While Edith was busy cutting out and 
basting the doll’s clothes, Mrs. Freeman 
was at work on some bits of light blue silk, 
and in a little while she exclaimed: “Look 
at this, Edith! Isn’t this a beautiful hat?” 

“Yes, indeed,” said Edith, admiringly, 
for out of the bits of silk Mrs. Freeman had 
shirred and shaped the daintiest of doll’s 
hats. 

When they went in to prepare dinner, 
Mrs. Freeman fed the gosling with some 
warm porridge. 

“Perhaps he’d like sugar and cream on 
it,” suggested Edith. 

“Perhaps he would,” responded Mrs. Free- 
man, laughingly; “let’s try and see,” and 
she sprinkled a little sugar over it and added 
a little cream, feeding the gosling slowly. 
At the new flavor the gosli^ moved its 
head hopefully and quacked several times 
as if to say “Thank you.” It moved 


A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 41 


briskly about in its basket, and seemed much 
better than in the morning. Edith became 
so much interested in watching it that she 
put Grace and the piece-bag away. 

“If it is to grow into a polite goose, it 
must be taught how to eat properly,” said 
Mrs. Freeman, and she put a chair near a 
low table in one corner of the kitchen, and 
when it was time to feed the gosling again 
it was put in the chair and the shallow 
basin of porridge set on the table in front 
of it. After a few surprised flutters the 
gosling began to peck at the porridge. 
Evidently it did not suit his taste. Mrs. 
Freeman added the cream and sugar as she 
had done at noon, and then Master Gosling 
fell to with a good will. 

At night he was warmly wrapped in the 
cotton and seemed almost as well as usual. 
For several days he was kept in the house 
and tended carefully. He would stay in 
almost any position in which he was placed. 
Mrs. Freeman would put him flat on his 


42 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


back in a sunny corner of the piazza, where 
he would lie for a long time, greatly to Edith's 
amusement. As he grew stronger he greatly 
preferred the house to the company of his 
brothers and sisters, and at the usual times 
of feeding he would waddle into the kitchen, 
flutter up to his seat in the chair, and quack 
for his porridge. But cream and sugar 
always had to be added. 

One day, as the bird lay on its back in 
the sun, Edith put Grace so that the gosling's 
wing almost enfolded the doll. He did not 
object, and as he grew larger Edith began 
to dress him up in a skirt, with a little square 
of calico folded shawl-fashion about his 
neck, and a paper sunbonnet. Edith would 
reward Robin Goodfellow, as Mrs Freeman 
named him, with a bit of sweet gingerbread, 
of which he was very fond, so that the 
young goose quite approved of appearing 
in costume. Then Edith made some ribbon 
reins and a sort of harness for Robin Good- 
fellow, and a small cart made out of a paste- 


A TRIP TO THE CORNERS 43 


board box with empty spools for wheels, and 
he would draw it about the yard as if proud 
of his accomplishments. 

For a long time he persisted in being fed 
in the kitchen and spending his nights on 
the porch, but as he grew older, for his 
safety Mrs. Freeman insisted on carrying 
him out to lodge with his own family, and 
gradually Robin Goodfellow became tired 
of being harnessed, of lying on his back, 
or even of eating in the kitchen, and forgot 
his accomplishments and became just a 
common goose, greatly to Edith’s disap- 
pointment. 

“A kitten wouldn’t do that way,” she 
said; “even after they grow into cats they 
like to play and they will do tricks.” And 
Mrs. Freeman said again that she must try 
to find a good, likely kitten. 


CHAPTER IV 


BLACK BETTY RUNS AWAY 

“T"\ON’T you want to send a letter to 
your sister, Edith ?” asked Mrs. 
Freeman one morning. 

“Oh, yes’m,” replied Edith, eagerly. 
“Will you write and tell her all about my doll, 
and about the white iris in the garden, and 
say that I have a thimble, and tell her about 
Robin Goodfellow?” 

Mrs. Freeman laughed at the little girl's 
eagerness. “Why, I will write if you want 
me to," she replied; “but don’t you think 
that it would be nicer if you wrote your- 
self?’’ 

The smile faded from Edith’s face. 
“Yes’m,’’ she answered, “it would be nicer; 
but I guess when you asked me to come and 
live with you that you didn’t know that I 
couldn’t write.’’ 


44 


BLACK BETTY RUNS AWAY 45 


They were both at work in the potato 
patch. Mrs. Freeman was hoeing about 
the plants, and Edith was pulling up the 
witch-grass which grew so rapidly. Mrs. 
Freeman pushed back her wide sunbonnet 
and looked toward her companion, but 
Edith’s eyes were fixed on the ground, and 
all Mrs. Freeman could see was the top of 
the little girl’s “ shaker” with its cape of 
blue gingham. 

“ Can’t you write, my dear?” she asked. 

“No, ma’am,” came Edith’s faint reply, 
and she ventured to look up and, as Mrs. 
Freeman was smiling, she smiled up into 
the friendly face. 

“Don’t you care?” asked the little girl. 
“I thought p’r’aps you’d think I was so 
ignorant you wouldn’t want me to live with 
you when you knew that I couldn’t write.” 

“Can you read?” asked Mrs. Freeman. 

“Oh, yes’m, easy words I can. Eliza 
always was meaning to teach me to write, 
but either she didn’t have time or didn’t 


46 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


have a pencil. When she had time there 
wouldn’t be a pencil in the house, and then 
when we did have a pencil she wouldn’t 
have a bit of time.” 

“I see,” said Mrs. Freeman. “Well, you 
are old enough now to understand that it is 
important to write, and there’s no time like 
the present to learn, so just as soon as we fin- 
ish this row of potatoes we will go into the 
house and get ready for a writing lesson.” 

“Have you a pencil?” asked Edith, anx- 
iously. 

“I have a whole dozen,” said Mrs. Free- 
man; “and I expect that you will learn so 
quickly that it will not be long before we 
can send that letter to Eliza.” 

“And tell her that I am learning to sew, 
too !” said Edith. 

“Of course,” said Mrs. Freeman. 

“Eliza said I’d have a real good chance 
to learn things with you,” said the little 
girl, “and she said that I must be a credit 
to you.” 


BLACK BETTY RUNS AWAY 47 


“Well,” said Mrs. Freeman, with the gay 
little laugh which Edith liked so much to 
hear, "when you write to Eliza, you must 
tell her that I think you are better than a 
credit to me; you are like a gift to me.” 

"Is a gift better than a credit?” asked 
Edith. 

"Indeed it is. A gift means love, and 
thought, and kindness, and a credit, — 
well, I guess I don’t know what a credit 
does mean,” concluded Mrs Freeman, "only 
I know that a gift is much nicer.” 

Edith smiled happily. "Then I’ll be a 
gift to you,” she said. 

On their way back to the house from the 
potato patch they stopped to gather up the 
eggs in the big, clean hen-barn. Mrs. Free- 
man said that her hens were her best in- 
come. "Just see, thirty eggs this morning ! ” 
and she lifted Edith’s basket and looked 
admiringly at the big, cream-colored eggs. 
"I shall have to go to The Corners early 
next week to sell my eggs.” 


48 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“You can count, too, can’t you!” said 
Edith. 

“Yes, indeedy! Can’t you?” asked Mrs. 
Freeman. 

Edith shook her head. 

“I see I shall have to start a school,” 
said Mrs. Freeman, “and I shall call it 
the ‘ Edith Austin Academy.’ Instruc- 
tion will be given in arithmetic, writing, 
geography, grammar, also in weeding, pick- 
ing peas, gathering eggs, and feeding chick- 
ens. Extra courses in dish- washing and 
sewing.” 

Edith laughed, and the anxious look 
faded from her face as she listened to her 
friend. “Shall I learn all those things?” 

“Of course you will, and we will begin 
the summer term this very afternoon. The 
daily session will be a short one, for busy 
days are coming. Do you see the tall grass 
in the lower field? Somehow that must be 
cut and got into the barn, or Posy will go 
hungry next winter. And that piece of oats 


BLACK BETTY RUNS AWAY 49 


must be harvested, or Betty and the chickens 
will starve.” 

"Can you harvest?” asked Edith. 

"Pm afraid I can't, my dear, for I've 
nothing but a scythe, and I should be apt to 
cut my feet off if I attempted to use it. 
John thought he would be home before this 
time, and Eben, too; but I'm afraid that 
the War is just begun.” 

"The War won't come here, will it?” 
asked Edith. 

"Oh, no; Illinois hasn't any slaves to 
free, thank Heaven,” said Mrs. Freeman. 
"But I must think of some way to get my 
grain and hay harvested.” 

"Couldn't that smart Worthley boy do 
it for you?” asked Edith. 

"Why, I hadn't thought of him,” said 
Mrs. Freeman. ‘ ‘ Perhaps he has a harvester, 
and I could help him. Perhaps that's a good 
idea. After the 'Edith Austin Academy' 
closes this afternoon, we will drive over to 
Mrs. Worthley's and talk to her about it.” 


50 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


The “ Edith Austin Academy” had its 
first session on the front piazza that after- 
noon, and Edith carefully copied the letters 
Mrs. Freeman made for her on the big sheet 
of brown wrapping paper, and added up 
the potato balls which were placed in a row 
on the little table which served as a desk. 
She could count ten before the first lesson 
concluded; and, although writing seemed 
much more difficult than counting, she was 
sure that it would not be many weeks before 
she could send a letter to Eliza. 

“I must learn as fast as I can,” thought 
Edith, as she ran happily upstairs to put on 
her white stockings and get ready to visit 
Mrs. Worthley, “for it won’t be fair to Mrs. 
Freeman if I don’t learn everything there 
is to learn. Because I must be a credit 
to her just as soon as I can,” and Edith 
smiled, remembering what Mrs. Freeman 
had said about “gifts” and “credits.” 

“I don’t know that we ought to start,” said 
Mrs. Freeman when Edith came downstairs. 


BLACK BETTY RUNS AWAY 51 


“ There are dark clouds gathering in the 
west, and we may have a thunder storm, 
and there isn't a house on the road where 
we could get shelter." 

“ Betty is all harnessed," said Edith. 

“Yes," responded Mrs. Freeman, “and 
perhaps we could go and get home before 
the rain comes, and perhaps there won't be 
any rain ; I believe we will take the chances, 
anyway, for I must find out as soon as pos- 
sible about getting help to harvest the grain." 

The broad prairie with its tall grasses 
offers no shelter from a storm. There were 
few trees in the vicinity, only those planted 
by settlers about their homesteads; and 
the road over which Mrs. Freeman and Edith 
were driving was so little used as to be hardly 
more than a cart-track through the grass. 

As Black Betty travelled swiftly along 
Mrs. Freeman told Edith about the time 
when she and Captain Freeman came to 
Illinois. “Captain Freeman was looking 
for coal mines then," she said. “He opened 


52 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


the first coal mines in Illinois. He was a 
member of General McClernard’s staff. We 
used to call this part of the State ‘ Egypt/ 
Do you know the story about Joseph, in 
the Bible ? that there was still corn in Egypt 
when it failed everywhere else ? Well, that’s 
the way it was here one year. The corn 
crop failed throughout the rest of the State, 
but down in this end of the State there was 
plenty of corn; and the drivers of caravans 
of prairie schooners, headed thither and 
returning laden, got to thinking of their 
Bibles, and called this fertile land by the 
name of the land where Jacob sent his sons 
to save them from the famine.” 

“It’s growing dark,” said Edith, peering 
out of the covered buggy. 

“Dark as Egypt,” said Mrs. Freeman. 
“I’m afraid the rain will catch us after all,” 
and she urged Black Betty to a faster pace. 

The wind began to come in puffs, and 
now and then a dash of rain swept across 
their faces. The sky was dark, and clouds 


BLACK BETTY RUNS AWAY 53 


covered the sun. But Betty was making 
good time, and Mrs. Freeman hoped to 
reach the Worthleys’ before the storm 
reached them. Betty, usually calm and 
steady, began to show that she, too, was 
nervous. She twitched her head, lifted her 
feet high, and swerved from the road as if 
to turn about and go towards home. It 
took all Mrs. Freeman’s strength to control 
.her and keep her to the road. 

The wind grew stronger and rocked the 
frail carriage, as it swept across the prairie. 
One of the side curtains of the buggy broke 
loose and flapped violently, making a loud, 
clapping noise. This proved too much for 
Betty, and with a violent pull of her head 
which yanked the reins from Mrs. Freeman’s 
grasp, Betty turned from the road and 
began a wild rush across the open prairie, 
the carriage swinging and swaying behind 
her. The rain was now coming in torrents, 
the sky was dark, and the wind was appar- 
ently growing in strength. 


54 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


For a moment Mrs. Freeman lost her 
presence of mind, but a glance at Edith’s 
frightened face reminded her of her own 
responsibility. 

“ Don’t be frightened, dear child,” she 
said, with a little smile, “we will soon be 
all right. If I could only get those reins, I 
could control Betty in a moment, and this 
shower is too fierce to last long.” 

The reins were striking against Betty at 
every jump, swaying at one side, and there 
was danger that the horse’s feet might get 
caught in them. Edith remembered how 
she had promised to herself that she would 
some day do some brave thing for Mrs. 
Freeman. It would be a brave thing if she 
could get those reins. A sudden resolve 
took possession of the little girl. She slid 
off the seat to the floor of the buggy, and 
crouched near the dashboard. How Betty 
did run! How the buggy jolted! Edith 
took a firm hold of the nickel rail at the side 
of the dashboard, and, before Mrs. Freeman 


BLACK BETTY RUNS AWAY 55 


had realized the child’s movement, she had 
stepped carefully out on the shaft and, lean- 
ing down, clutched at the swinging reins. 
By wonderful good fortune the little girl’s 
hand seized the flying reins; she held on to 
them firmly, and just then felt a grasp upon 
her skirts, and Mrs. Freeman drew her back 
into the swaying carriage and seized the 
reins from her hand. 

“ Thank Heaven!” said Mrs. Freeman, as 
Edith sank in a limp heap at the bottom of 
the carriage. 

Mrs. Freeman, with the reins again in 
her hands, soon brought Betty to a stand- 
still. The clouds began to disperse, the rain 
stopped, and the wind died away. The 
storm was over. Mrs. Freeman turned 
Betty back to the road, and now found 
time to speak to Edith, who was back in her 
seat, sitting very straight and looking very 
happy. 

“ Edith,” said Mrs. Freeman, “what made 
you think of taking such a dreadful risk as 


56 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


that? You might have slipped and been 
run over.” 

“Oh, I couldn’t slip,” said Edith; “I had 
a tight hold.” 

“But what made you do it, child?” 

“I wanted to do something for you,” 
said Edith, a little tremble in her voice; 
“and I’ve got black all over my white 
stockings.” 


CHAPTER V 


EDITH AND HAMILTON 

HEN they drove into the Worthleys’ 



* » yard, Hamilton and his mother 
hurried out to meet them. Hamilton 
smiled at Edith as he helped her out of the 
carriage. “You’re pretty brave, for a girl,” 
he said, remembering their first meeting. 

“Brave!” said Mrs. Freeman, “I guess 
if you could have seen her an hour ago you 
would have thought she was brave,” and 
Mrs. Freeman told the story of the recapture 
of the reins. 

Hamilton listened without a word of 
comment, but Mrs. Worthley exclaimed: 
“Well, that beats all! I expect if Edith 
lives to grow up she will be a real heroine !” 

Edith did not know what “heroine” 
meant, but she was sure it was something 


67 


58 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


very desirable from the way in which Mrs. 
Worthley spoke, and she resolved to herself 
that she would be a heroine if she possibly 
could. 

Hamilton unhitched Betty and led her 
toward the stable, and Edith and Mrs. Free- 
man went indoors with his mother. The 
Worthley house was not as large as Mrs. 
Freeman’s; the rooms were all on the 
ground floor. 

“Just step into my shed-room a minute,” 
said Mrs. Worthley. “I want you to see a 
rag carpet I’m weaving. I cut up my rags 
and had them all sewed before the War 
started, or I guess I shouldn’t have had 
courage to begin it.” 

The shed-room was a long, unfinished room 
with windows on each side. The floor was 
unpainted, and there was but little furni- 
ture. At the end of the room stood the big, 
clumsy, wooden loom, with a length of 
bright-colored carpet in its frame; and on a 
chair right under one of the sunny windows 


EDITH AND HAMILTON 


59 


was a big round basket, and in this basket 
Edith saw a smooth maltese cat, and curled 
up beside it were two maltese kittens. 

“Oh!” exclaimed Edith, admiringly, and 
when Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Worthley 
looked around, she said “Kittens!” in such 
a delighted voice that they both laughed. 

“Now, perhaps you would like a nice 
kitten?” said Mrs. Worthley, hopefully. 

“Indeed I would,” replied Mrs. Freeman. 

“Well, Edith, you can have one of those 
kittens and welcome,” said Mrs. Worthley. 
“I will fix a nice box to put it in, and you 
can take it home to-day. Remember that 
it likes its milk warmed a little.” 

The kitten which Edith decided on had a 
little white spot on its forehead and its feet 
were white. “I know what Fm going to 
name it,” said Edith. “Iam going to name 
it Tinkletoes.” 

“Why,” said Mrs. Freeman, “I think that 
is a fine name.” 

While Edith was playing with the kittens 


60 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


she heard Mrs. Worthley say: “I keep hear- 
ing reports that some of our Illinois soldiers 
are not to be trusted, and that one regiment 
is going over to the Confederacy. But I 
can’t believe it.” 

“You mustn’t believe it,” responded Mrs. 
Freeman, seriously. “Some deserter from 
the army has started that story. Why, if 
it was true, our homes would not be safe for 
a minute. The Southern army would pour 
into the State and destroy the home of 
every loyal citizen.” 

Edith was listening eagerly. The War 
had seemed something vague and far off 
until she came to live with Mrs. Freeman. 
Now it seemed to be coming nearer every 
day. It was because of the War that Mrs. 
Freeman had to live alone and run the 
farm as best she could; and now Edith 
began to have a terror of the word Con- 
federate. She felt that for Illinois people to 
join the Confederacy was, in some un- 
imagined way, a disgrace. 


EDITH AND HAMILTON 61 


“I haven’t heard a word from the Cap- 
tain,” Mrs. Freeman went on more cheer- 
fully, “but ‘no news is good news,’ you 
know; and just now I am anxious about 
getting in my oats and harvesting my 
wheat, and I came over to see if that smart 
boy of yours could help me out.” 

Mrs. Worthley smiled at this praise of her 
boy. “Why, I guess he could help some,” 
she said. “He and I have managed to 
gather our own crops. I guess we have 
need to store all we can, Mrs. Freeman, for it 
will be a hard winter.” 

Mrs. Freeman nodded. “Edith and I 
have a fine garden,” she responded. “We 
shall have plenty of potatoes, carrots, and 
onions for our needs this winter; but I 
want to make sure of enough feed for Betty 
and the cow.” 

Edith picked Tinkletoes up in her arms 
and went out of the shed-room and across 
the yard to the stable. Hamilton sat in 
the door, cleaning Betty’s harness. 


62 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“See! your mother has given me this 
lovely kitten,” called Edith. 

Just then the little girl heard some one 
call, “Edith, Edith Austin!” 

Edith looked anxiously toward the house, 
and the voice sounded again, “Come right 
into the house.” 

Edith started to obey, but Hamilton’s 
laugh made her look at him wonderingly. 

“I guess you’ve forgotten about my 
being a ventriloquist,” he said. 

“Oh!” said Edith, admiringly. “I wish 
that I could be a ven-tril-o-quist. Couldn’t 
I learn?” 

Hamilton shook his head. “I guess it 
wouldn’t be of much use for you to learn,” 
he said. “Now with a boy it’s different. If 
Confederates or deserters come along here, 
why, I could talk like half a dozen men and 
frighten them off.” 

“Then I ought to learn right away,” said 
Edith, eagerly; “for if I knew how, then I 
could frighten off people if they came to 


EDITH AND HAMILTON 


63 


hurt Mrs. Freeman. Don’t you suppose I 
could learn?” 

“Can you sing?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Well, try; sing ‘Hi, Betty Martin,’ ” and 
Hamilton looked at her critically. 

But Edith had not a singing voice. Her 
“Hi, Betty Martin,” sounded in a weak 
quaver which made Hamilton laugh. “You 
can’t!” he said, shaking his head. “You 
haven’t voice enough.” 

“Oh, dear,” said Edith, almost in tears, 
“then what can I do if Confederates come?” 

“Well,” said Hamilton, thoughtfully, 
“probably they won’t come; but if they 
should, you’d better ride Black Betty over 
here just as fast as you can, and I’ll go and 
scare them off.” 

“Oh, thank you,” said Edith, gratefully. 

Tinkletoes began to get uneasy in Edith’s 
close clasp, and the children went back to 
the house together. 

It was arranged that Hamilton should go 


64 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


to the Freeman farm the next Monday with 
his reaping machine, and harvest Mrs. Free- 
man’s grain and help her to get in as much 
hay as possible. When he led Betty up to 
the door, Mrs. Freeman exclaimed at the 
shining harness, and Mrs. Worthley said: 
“Well, you never saw such a boy! He’s 
busy at something every minute, and al- 
ways wants to help everybody.” 

“Why, that’s just like Edith,” said Mrs. 
Freeman, smiling down at the little girl be- 
side her. Edith smiled happily back, and 
resolved to herself that after this she would 
keep Betty’s harness as clean and shiny as 
Hamilton could. 

“To-morrow we must go over to The 
Corners and see if there isn’t a letter,” said 
Mrs. Freeman, as they started for home. 

“And see if the storekeeper keeps his 
flag flying,” said Edith. 

“Mr. Jones is sure to do that, poor man,” 
said Mrs. Freeman. “If he was not lame, he 
would be at the front with Captain Freeman. 


EDITH AND HAMILTON 


65 


But as long as he has to stay at home he 
shows his loyalty by keeping the flag flying 
on the highest point in his neighborhood. I 
always feel safe when I think of Mr. Jones’s 
flag.” 

It was nearly dark before they reached 
home. Tinkletoes was glad enough to be 
taken out of his comfortable box, and was 
glad of the saucer of warm milk that Edith 
soon had ready for him. 

“I know what we must do just as soon as 
we can,” said Mrs. Freeman. 

“What?” asked Edith, eagerly, for Mrs. 
Freeman’s plans were always pleasant ones. 

“Can’t you guess?” asked Mrs. Freeman. 
“When a little girl has only one pair of 
white stockings, why, what should she do?” 

“Knit another pair,” said Edith. 

“Of course,” said Mrs. Freeman; “and I 
have plenty of white cotton yarn and nice 
steel knitting needles, and I think I shall 
add a course of stocking-knitting to the 
‘ Edith Austin Academy.’” 


66 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 

“Oh ! what a lot of lovely things to do !” 
said Edith, happily. 

Mrs. Freeman decided next morning to 
ride Betty over to The Corners. 

“I can go faster on horseback,” she said. 
“You won’t be afraid to stay alone?” 

“Oh, no!” said Edith. “And you won’t 
be away long?” 

“No longer than I can help,” replied Mrs. 
Freeman. 

Edith took her doll, Grace, and went out 
on the front piazza where she could watch 
the road over which Mrs. Freeman would 
return. Grace had just been established on 
the front steps, and Edith was coming to 
make a formal call upon her, when the 
pounding of a horse’s feet down the road 
attracted the little girl’s attention and made 
her look in that direction. 

“Oh, how quick she’s come home!” ex- 
claimed Edith, thinking that it was Mrs. 
Freeman. But as she looked she could see 
that it was a gray horse, and not Black 



“Are your folks at home, little girl?’' 


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EDITH AND HAMILTON 


67 


Betty, and a man in a blue uniform with 
brass buttons was its rider. 

Edith watched him as he rapidly drew 
near, and as he stopped the gray horse in 
front of the house, and swung himself from 
the saddle, she did not run or show any 
signs of fear. But she was wondering if this 
strange man meant harm to the Freemans or 
their property. 

As the man stood beside the horse, the 
little girl noticed that he was not very tall, 
and that he was thin. The blue uniform 
seemed to hang from his shoulders as from a 
framework. He wore a faded soldier’s cap, 
and his sandy hair was long. 

“Are your folks at home, little girl?” he 
asked, looking anxiously about. 

“Not all of them,” answered Edith, “but 
I’m at home, and Grace is here.” 

“Well,” said the man, and he leaned 
against the horse as if too weak to stand, 
“I’m just about used up. Could I give my 
horse a drink and rest off here a couple of 


68 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


hours? I’m on my way to Cairo/’ he 
explained. 

“Why, yes, sir,” said Edith. “You lead 
your horse round to the pump in the back 
yard. And if you’d like a lunch I’ll bring 
you something on the back porch, where it’s 
shady.” 

The young man looked at her gratefully. 
“I ain’t had much to eat lately,” he said. 
When he reached the back yard he un- 
saddled the tired-looking horse, took off his 
bridle, and pumped a bucket full of fresh 
water. Then he stretched himself out at 
full length in the shade of the house. 

“I’ve just got to sleep a bit, miss,” he 
said; “I didn’t close my eyes last night.” 

Edith nodded in reply. She drew out a 
small table to the back porch and covered 
it with a white cloth. Then she brought 
out a pitcher of cool milk and a glass, a big 
plate of fresh cornbread, and some dough- 
nuts. After these preparations were made 
she sat down on the step and looked anx- 


EDITH AND HAMILTON 


69 


iously at her visitor. She noticed that his 
shoes were broken and that he did not wear 
stockings. His thin, sallow face bore signs 
of recent illness, and as Edith looked at him 
she realized that he was young, hardly 
more than a boy, and her first anxious 
fear of him vanished. She felt sure that 
he was in trouble, and wondered if there 
was not some way in which she could help 
him. 

The big gray horse had drunk the water 
and, after rolling over in the short grass, had 
stretched itself out as if too tired to feed. 
But after a little it got to its feet and began 
to crop the sweet clover. Just then the 
man also raised his head and exclaimed, 
“Have I slept long?” 

“About half an hour,” said Edith; “but 
I don’t believe you’re rested yet.” 

The boy’s eyes had turned with a raven- 
ous expression upon the neatly spread little 
table. “Is that for me?” he asked. 


“Yes, sir,” said Edith. “This is Grace,” 


70 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


she continued, holding up her doll; “we are 
keeping house.” 

“Are you here alone ?” asked her visitor, 
eagerly. 

Edith nodded. The young man said 
no more, but hurriedly finished his lunch. 
As he moved back from the table, he 
said, “I’m so tired and sick that I don’t 
know how I can go any farther, but I 
must.” 

“Why don’t you stay and rest?” asked 
Edith. “Your horse is tired, too.” 

“I’ll tell you why,” he replied; “because 
I’m a deserter from the Union army, and if 
I’m caught I’ll be shot.” 

“Oh!” said Edith. “What did you 
desert for?” 

“Because I hate war, and because I was 
homesick, and sick, and didn’t much care 
what I did,” said the boy, in such a forlorn 
voice that Edith felt more sorry for him 
than ever. 

“Is it wicked to desert?” she asked. 


EDITH AND HAMILTON 


71 


“It's pretty bad,” he responded dully. 
“A man ought to be shot for it.” 

“Why don’t you go back?” asked Edith. 
“You stay here till you get good and rested, 
and then you go right back.” 

“I wish I could,” he said, with a little 
laugh; “but I guess your folks wouldn’t 
talk that way if they were at home. They’d 
say that shooting was too good for me. I 
wish I could sleep awhile, though. I don’t 
believe I’d mind being shot so much if I 
could have a good sleep.” 

“I’ll show you a place to sleep,” said 
Edith, “and where your horse can rest, 
too; and I won’t tell a soul where you 
are till to-morrow morning, if you will prom- 
ise to go right back to Captain Freeman’s 
army.” 

The young man looked at her anxiously. 
“Just show me the place,” he said. 

“Wait till I shut Tinkletoes in the shed,” 
said Edith. “Tinkletoes is named for a 
good fairy who reminds people to do kind 


72 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


things,” she said, after the kitten was safe 
indoors. 

“ That’s a good sort of a fairy, then, isn’t 
it ? ” responded the boy. 

“Yes, indeed!” said Edith. 


CHAPTER VI 


THE DESERTER 

a "\/ r OU , LL have to saddle the horse,” 
said Edith, and with some effort the 
young man put the saddle and bridle on the 
tired horse and followed the little girl. 

She led him out beyond the big barn, 
skirted the field of wheat and pointed out 
a shed-like building. “ There,” she said, 
“that is half-filled with hay, and your horse 
can eat all he wants, and you can sleep. 
HI go right back to the house and bring you 
some bread and doughnuts and milk, for 
you to have for your supper, and to-morrow 
you go right back to the army and say you 
are sorry.” 

He looked at her and a little smile crept 
around his thin lips. “I believe I will,” he 
said. 


73 


74 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Edith nodded approvingly. “Mrs. Free- 
man says to do what you ought to do comes 
out all right,” she said, “and I guess you 
ought to go back. Don’t you?” 

“I guess I had,” he said, and led his 
horse toward the shed. 

Edith hurried toward the house and was 
soon back with the promised food. “I 
can’t stay,” she said, “for it’s time for Mrs. 
Freeman to get home.” 

“You won’t tell her about me?” pleaded 
the youth. 

Edith shook her head. “I won’t tell any- 
body,” she promised, and hurried back to 
the house. 

She set away the table and looked at the 
empty plates. “I guess Mrs. Freeman will 
think I was pretty hungry to-day,” she said 
to herself, and then, taking her doll, went 
back to the front piazza. In a little while 
she could see two horses approaching at a 
rapid pace, and recognized one of them as 
Black Betty. 


THE DESERTER 


75 


“I wonder if that’s another deserter with 
her/’ Edith whispered to herself, as they 
came near and she could see that Mrs. Free- 
man’s companion wore a blue uniform. But 
he was a tall, strong-looking man, far dif- 
ferent from the sick-looking boy whom 
Edith had hidden in the shed. 

“This is Edith Austin, Captain Marr,” 
said Mrs. Freeman, as Edith ran down to 
meet them. “Captain Marr is after a de- 
serter,” she said, “so we can’t ask him to 
stop ; but we shall hope to see you in happier 
times, Captain.” 

The big man smiled. 

“I’m almost hoping I won’t find the lad,” 
he said; “he was too young to be in the 
army, anyway.” 

“Every boy ought to be taught what 
loyalty to the flag means,” said Mrs. Free- 
man, firmly, and as the Captain rode on 
she led Betty into the yard, unsaddled her, 
and turned her loose. 

“It will be time for the 'Edith Austin 


76 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Academy' as soon as I get a bite to eat,” 
said Mrs. Freeman, as they went indoors. 
“I see you have had your lunch,” she con- 
tinued, noticing the unwashed plates. “Well, 
I got my letter this time, and Captain Free- 
man is well, and says that he is glad I have 
such good company.” 

Edith did not make much progress with 
her lessons that afternoon. She was hun- 
gry, and she began to worry about her 
secret. Mrs. Freeman noticed the little girl's 
anxious expression, and when they went out 
to feed the chickens that night she put her 
arm about Edith and said, “My little girl 
mustn't be frightened. Captain Marr will 
catch the deserter; he won't trouble us.” 

Edith went to bed early that night, but 
she could not sleep. She wondered if she 
had done right to tell the boy where to hide, 
and to promise not to tell Mrs. Freeman. 
“But he will go back and be a good soldier,” 
she said to herself. It was late before she 
went to sleep, and Mrs. Freeman did not 


THE DESERTER 


77 


call her the next morning, but went out 
and milked the cow, turned Betty into the 
field, and fed the chickens. As she came 
out from the big barn she noticed the prints 
of the gray horse’s shoes, and stopped to 
examine them. They led toward the wheat 
field, and Mrs. Freeman followed them until 
she reached the hay-shed. As she drew 
near the shed she could hear a low, moan- 
ing noise, and the sound of a horse eating. 

Mrs. . Freeman hesitated for a moment, 
and then pushed open the rickety door. 
The big gray horse poked out his nose 
toward her. Mrs. Freeman pushed by him 
toward the corner from which the moans 
came, and found, stretched out on the hay, 
the slender figure of a boy. He turned his 
face toward her as she approached and 
said : — 

“ Mother, I thought I should never see you 
again.” 

“The deserter,” whispered Mrs. Freeman 
to herself. “How will I ever get him to the 


78 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


house, poor boy,” for the moaning had be- 
gun again. Mrs. Freeman looked at the big 
horse, and noticed the saddle. “I guess it’s 
the only way,” she said, and in a few mo- 
ments the gray horse was saddled and 
bridled. Then she leaned over the slender 
figure and lifted the youth to a sitting posi- 
tion. “Try to stand up,” she said. 

The boy struggled to his feet, leaning 
heavily against her. “You must get into 
the saddle,” she urged, and after several 
efforts he succeeded, and Mrs. Freeman 
started for the house, leading the big gray, 
who walked very slowly. When they 
reached the side door the young man slid 
down from the saddle, and Mrs. Freeman 
almost carried him indoors. 

“He can’t be more than sixteen,” she 
thought pitifully, as she took off the worn 
uniform and helped him into the comfort- 
able bed in the big room which opened from 
the sitting room. Then she hurried to the 
kitchen, and, returning with a basin of 


THE DESERTER 


79 


warm water and fresh towels, bathed the 
tired feet and thin body. 

“That hair ought to be cut,” she resolved, 
as she looked at the unshorn locks ; and in a 
few minutes her sharp scissors had clipped 
away the unnecessary length of hair. 

Arrowroot tea was soon in preparation, 
and then Mrs. Freeman remembered that 
Edith had not had her breakfast, and the 
sight of the gray horse gave her a new 
anxiety. 

“My soul!” she said. “ Everybody knows 
that we haven't a gray horse ! I must shut 
this one up in the stable.” 

So she led the horse to the barn, hurry- 
ing back to look in upon the patient and to 
bathe his hot forehead with cold water. 
She had completely forgotten Edith, when, 
entering the kitchen, she found the little girl 
looking wonderingly at the soldier boy's old 
shoes and blue clothing. 

“My dear little girl,” said Mrs. Freeman, 
“what do you think? I have the deserter 


80 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


in our parlor bedroom, and he is only a poor, 
sick boy.” 

Then Mrs. Freeman told her she had 
followed the marks of the horse’s feet until 
she came to the shed, and of bringing the 
boy back to the house. 

Edith listened anxiously. 

“What I don’t understand,” continued 
Mrs. Freeman, “is how he knew about the 
hay-shed, and the way to get there.” 

Edith was just going to say, “Why, I 
showed him the way,” and tell her good 
friend about the gift of food, when she re- 
membered her promise. She had told the 
boy that she would not tell, and a promise 
was a promise. She closed her lips tightly 
together. 

“We must do something with these blue 
clothes,” said Mrs. Freeman. “I’ve a great 
mind to dip them into brown dye.” 

“He hadn’t any stockings,” said Edith, 
looking down at the worn and broken shoes. 

All that day Mrs. Freeman and Edith 


THE DESERTER 


81 


waited upon and cared for the sick boy. 
While Mrs. Freeman prepared the pot of 
dye and dipped the worn clothes, Edith sat 
in the bedroom, bathing the boy’s hot head, 
and wondering about her promise. Not to 
tell Mrs. Freeman seemed underhand and 
unfair, and made Edith uncomfortable and 
not pleased with herself. But she had 
promised not to tell, she reminded herself, 
and a promise was not to be broken. 

Before night came the boy’s moans had 
ceased, and he had dropped into a restful 
sleep, The dye had proved its usefulness, 
and his uniform was now a dull brown. 

“I’ll press it out in the morning,” said 
Mrs. Freeman, “and put on some other 
buttons, and look up some stockings and 
shoes for the boy.” 

“Will he go away to-morrow?” asked 
Edith, hopefully. 

“No, indeed; he won’t be able to sit up 
to-morrow. We shall have to feed him on 
chicken broth and everything that will 


82 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


nourish him till he gets his strength. I be- 
lieve the boy is half starved.” 

Edith sighed. She felt sure that as soon 
as the deserter regained consciousness he 
would accuse her of having broken her 
promise; then Mrs. Freeman would know 
that she had deceived her. For the first 
time since Edith came to the Freeman house 
she felt unhappy, and thought longingly of 
Eliza. 

“ Hamilton will come Monday,” said 
Edith. 

“We shall have to tell Hamilton all about 
it,” said Mrs. Freeman, with a sigh. “Oh, 
dear, it's pretty hard to know what is right 
to do.” 

“Yes’m,” responded Edith, with so much 
emphasis that Mrs. Freeman smiled. 

“But I couldn’t let that sick boy die in 
my hay-shed,” she continued. “He isn’t to 
blame for being a deserter half as much as 
the men are who took such a boy into the 
army.” 


THE DESERTER 


83 


Just then they heard the sound of steps 
on the back porch, and there came a rap at 
the door. 

“Open the door,” said Mrs. Freeman, and 
Edith obeyed. As the door swung open, 
there stood Captain Marr. 

“Oh, Captain Marr!” exclaimed Mrs. 
Freeman, “I am so glad you have come! 
That poor boy is here, in my spare bed- 
room.” 

“I found I had gone too far,” said the 
Captain. “He must have been here yester- 
day. Funny that this little girl didn’t see 
him.” 

“He and his horse were down in my hay- 
shed back of the wheat field,” explained Mrs. 
Freeman, “and I had a dreadful time getting 
him up to the house. He thought I was his 
mother. Now, Captain Marr, that boy isn’t 
fit to go back to the army. What are you 
going to do with him?” 


CHAPTER VII 


NEW FRIENDS 

“XS he sick?” inquired the big Cap- 

JL tain. 

“Come and look at him,” responded Mrs. 
Freeman, and she led the way toward the 
spare room. Captain Marr followed on 
tiptoe, and Edith was left alone in the 
kitchen, now growing dull and shadowy 
in the twilight. In a moment the Cap- 
tain was back, his kind face anxious and 
worried. 

“I have colored his clothes brown,” con- 
fessed Mrs. Freeman, “for I may as well 
tell you, Captain Marr, that I had made up 
my mind that the boy shouldn’t leave here 
until he was well.” 

“Aiding and abetting a deserter!” said 
Captain Marr. “Why, only yesterday you 


84 


NEW FRIENDS 


85 


were hoping that I would capture him, and 
saying that boys must be taught loyalty to 
the flag.” 

“So they must,” replied Mrs. Freeman, 
“and I want to teach it to this boy so that 
it will make a brave man of him ; a man who 
will be willing to die for his flag if his coun- 
try needs him, because he loves it and un- 
derstands what it means. This boy doesn’t 
know. Can’t we save him for his country, 
Captain?” 

The Captain looked at her admiringly, but 
he hesitated before he answered. Then he 
said slowly : — 

“I can’t decide. I wish I could; but you 
know it’s always best to keep one’s promise, 
and I have promised to bring this boy back 
to his post.” 

“But he is too ill,” objected Mrs. Free- 
man. 

“Yes,” 'Said the Captain, “but remember 
that he is under arrest, and in your custody. 
I shall have to hold you responsible for him 


86 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


until I come for him. Are you willing to 
accept the responsibility ? ” 

The Captain’s voice was serious, and Mrs. 
Freeman nodded. “I will see that he re- 
turns to the army and reports to you, Cap- 
tain,” she answered. 

Captain Marr could not remain for the 
night. Just as he was leaving he said: 
“Oh, this boy’s name is David Goddard. 
His home is near Cairo.” 

The next day David was better. He 
looked at Edith as she brought him in a 
bowl of chicken broth, and said, “So you 
told.” 

“I didn’t,” she responded, with so much 
firmness that he did not argue, but said : — 

“Well, you didn’t keep your promise, so 
I shan’t keep mine about going back to the 
army.” 

“I always keep my promises,” said Edith, 
indignantly. “And Mrs. Freeman says that 
you are to eat every bit of this broth, and 
perhaps you can sit up in the afternoon.” 


NEW FRIENDS 


87 


David ate the broth eagerly, but as soon 
as it was finished he sank back on the white 
pillows and in a moment was fast asleep. 
When he awoke again it was nearly noon, 
and Mrs. Freeman sat by his bedside. She 
smiled at him and said : — 

“I think this time, David, you can eat a 
bit of broiled chicken and a little toast. 
It’s all ready for you,” and she vanished into 
the kitchen to return with a dainty tray 
which she placed on a stand by the bedside, 
while she bolstered the boy up in a sitting 
position. Then she fed him the appetizing 
bits, talking quietly as she did so, telling 
him of noticing the tracks of the big horse, 
of following them to the hay-shed, and find- 
ing him sick and unconscious. 

“You thought I was your mother,” she 
concluded. 

Tears came into the boy’s eyes, and he 
looked at her appealingly. 

“Then Captain Marr came after you,” 
she went on quietly, “and when he found 


88 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


you were ill, he went away, telling me that 
I would be held responsible for you. And 
I am ready to be responsible for you, my 
boy,” she concluded tenderly, “just as 
your mother would be.” 

“Where is the little girl?” asked David. 
“Did she tell?” 

“Tell what?” questioned Mrs. Freeman. 

“Where I was hid?” 

“Why, no!” answered Mrs Freeman. 

A little smile came over the boy’s face. 
“She’s a little brick,” he said, “but I thought 
she told,” and then he described to Mrs Free- 
man how Edith had led him to the old hay- 
shed and provided him with food. “But 
she didn’t do it until she made me promise 
that I would go back to the army and be a 
good soldier,” he concluded. 

This made Mrs. Freeman smile. She 
remembered Edith’s unusual quiet, and 
said, “Well, Edith always keeps her promise, 
you see.” 

“I’ll try and keep mine,” said David. 


NEW FRIENDS 


89 


Just then Edith appeared at the door of 
the room, and Mrs. Freeman told her to 
come in, and she came slowly forward. Mrs. 
Freeman put her arm about the little girl 
and drew her toward the bed. 

“David,” she said, “this is my dear little 
girl, Edith Austin, who kept her promise 
to you, although she was very unhappy 
because she could not tell me all about it. 
But she felt that she could not break her 
word.” 

Edith’s eyes looked lovingly up to her 
friend’s face. “Oh,” she said happily, “you 
always understand!” 

“Yes, indeed!” said Mrs. Freeman, with 
a little laugh, “and David understands.” 

The slow tears gathered in the boy’s eyes. 
“I guess you are thinking I have broken a 
promise in running away from the army,” 
he said, “but I didn’t think about that side. 
I’ll go back.” 

“Of course you will, my dear boy,” said 
Mrs. Freeman, “but not until I say so. Not 


90 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


until your mother has made you a visit 
here, and not until you are well and strong 
and happy.” And leaving Edith to keep him 
company, Mrs. Freeman went out to attend 
to the many duties that awaited her. 

Edith had already begun to knit the white 
stockings, so she got her knitting, and her 
fingers were busy as she sat in the quiet 
room. 

“Are you knitting stockings?” asked 
David, turning his head to watch her. 

“Yes,” said Edith, “white openwork 
stockings. You can’t see the pattern yet, 
but when I have knit a little more it will 
look just like fern leaves. Mrs. Freeman 
has found some nice soft brown stockings 
for you; and she has dyed your clothes a 
lovely brown and is going to press them all 
nice for you,” and Edith smiled at him en- 
couragingly; but as he made no response, 
she continued, “Don’t you want to know 
why she dyed your clothes?” 

The boy nodded. “Well, I guess she 


NEW FRIENDS 91 

dyed them so as to remind you that you 
wasn’t a soldier any more.” 

David lifted up his head. “But I am 
going back/’ he said. 

“Yes,” said Edith, “but you are not a 
soldier now.” 

“Why ain’t I?” questioned the boy, as if 
offended. 

“Oh, because,” said Edith, “real soldiers 
don’t run away. But perhaps you will be 
a real soldier sometime.” 

“I suppose you think it’s fun being a 
soldier,” said the boy, “tramping all day 
in the mud and sleeping in it, and never 
having any clean clothes, and every time 
there’s a skirmish seeing the best men you 
know killed,” and the boy drew a shuddering 
breath. “You don’t know what it is,” he 
concluded. 

“But Mrs. Freeman says that men have 
to defend the flag; and she says our flag 
means everything, that it means safe homes, 
and happiness, and every good thing there 


92 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


is,” and Edith forgot to knit and looked 
at David eagerly. “ Didn’t you know what 
it meant?” she asked. 

“ Going to war isn't any fun,” responded 
the boy. “I didn't know it meant that I 
had to go so far from home that I couldn't 
get any word to my folks ; and when I found 
the regiment was going to Georgia, I just 
couldn't stand it. What makes Mrs. Free- 
man so good to me? Why didn't she let 
Captain Marr take me back?” 

Edith looked thoughtful for a moment 
before she answered, then she said: “Well, 
I heard her tell Captain Marr that she wanted 
to save you for your country. And I guess 
she will say little prayers for you, just the 
same as she does for Captain Freeman.” 

David made no response. He turned his 
face away and lay very quiet, and Edith 
went on with her knitting. Only two days 
more, she thought, and Hamilton Worthley 
would come to harvest the grain. She won- 
dered what he would say to this new boy, 


NEW FRIENDS 


93 


not much older than himself, “and he’s 
not half so brave as Hamilton,” thought 
Edith. 

By Monday morning David was well 
enough to be dressed, and was out on the 
side porch when Hamilton drove into the 
yard. Hamilton looked wonderingly at 
the big gray horse which was feeding in the 
field near Black Betty. 

“This is David Goddard, Hamilton,” 
said Mrs. Freeman, introducing the two 
boys. “Hamilton Worthley has come to 
help us harvest.” 

Hamilton looked at David as if wonder- 
ing who he was, and Mrs. Freeman soon 
found a chance to tell him that David was 
a sick soldier boy who was to stay with them 
until he was well. 

That very afternoon Mrs. Jones drove 
over from The Corners, bringing her little 
girls with her. The little girls looked ex- 
actly alike. Their eyes were black, and 
their black hair hung in smooth curls that 


94 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


came just to the pretty little embroidered 
collars around the necks of their pink- 
sprigged muslin dresses. 

Edith looked at them admiringly as they 
came up the porch steps. 

“I have brought the twins over to see 
your little girl,” said Mrs. Jones to Mrs. 
Freeman, and the little girls looked at Edith 
and smiled. One was called “ Kitty,” and 
the other, “Puss.” 

“This is Kitty,” said Mrs. Jones, and one 
of them came forward and put her hand in 
Edith’s. Edith felt quite grown up, for 
she was a year older than the twins and much 
taller. They went up to her attic playhouse 
and soon became very good friends. Edith 
discovered that Puss spoke with a little 
lisp. 

“I am so glad you lisp, Puss,” said Edith, 
“because now I can tell you really are Puss.” 

“Oh, yeth,” replied Puss, “everybody 
thezth that.” 


CHAPTER VIII 


A FOX AND A FAIRY 

T HE morning after the visit of Kitty 
and Puss, Edith was sitting on the 
back porch, playing with Tinkletoes. 

“You must be a very good kitten,” she 
said, as she tried to teach him to jump over 
her hands when she clasped them in front 
of him, “because you are named for a fairy 
prince !” 

As this information did not seem greatly 
to impress the maltese kitten, Edith looked 
at him anxiously for a moment and then 
said: “I don't half believe in fairies any- 
way. I guess Mrs. Freeman meant that 
good fairies are just another name for good 
thoughts. But I'm not sure. Of course 
there may be fairies.” 

The kitten jumped out of Edith's lap 

96 


96 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


and scampered across the yard, and away 
went Edith after him. Down into the field 
he ran, and when Edith again captured him 
she found that they were well on the way 
to the walnut grove. 

“I know what we will do, Tinkletoes,” 
she exclaimed. “We will go to the grove 
and see if we can’t find out if Prince Tinkle- 
toes lives there. He is so small that he can 
ride about on a butterfly, so perhaps I 
wouldn’t see him ; but you are so little you 
might run right across him perching on 
a tall blade of grass.” 

The kitten, held close in the little girl’s 
arms, made a desperate effort to escape so 
that he could begin the search at once, but 
Edith did not let him go. 

“Wait till we get to the grove,” she said, 
“and then you can run all you want to.” 

As soon as they reached the shade of the 
walnut trees Edith put the kitten down 
and away he scampered, his white feet 
showing like silver as he ran here and there. 



“ Oil ! You HANDSOME FOX ! ” — 


Page 97. 












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■kbS j. . 



ShL^'HV • ■ • 4 

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A FOX AND A FAIRY 


97 


“I think Tinkletoes is a lovely name 
for him,” thought Edith, as she watched 
him admiringly, “for even if he hasn’t 
tiny little silver bells on his feet, his feet 
are just silvery white, so it is almost the 
same.” 

Edith ran about among the trees watching 
Tinkletoes closely. Finally he scampered 
up to her as if afraid, and Edith picked him 
up. Just back of a low-growing shrub she 
could see a gleam of reddish yellow, and in 
a moment a pointed nose poked out from 
the shelter, and then Edith could see two 
sharp dancing eyes, and then a fox came 
cautiously out and, with its head turned 
toward Edith, looked as if to see what the 
little girl was going to do next. 

“Oh!” said Edith, admiringly. “You 
handsome fox!” For she had seen foxes 
ever since she was a tiny girl and well knew 
their appetite for chicken. “I know all 
about you,” she said, nodding her head at 
him. “You are sly reynard, that’s what you 


98 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


are.” The fox seemed surprised at this 
unfriendly remark, and retreated behind the 
bush and disappeared. 

“You didn’t find a fairy that time, did 
you, Tinkletoes?” said Edith, holding the 
kitten closely. “ We’ll go down the slope 
a little way and see what else lives in this 
grove besides fairies and foxes.” 

Edith wandered down the slope and finally 
decided that she was tired and would rest, 
and sat down where she could lean com- 
fortably against a big tree. Tinkletoes ran 
up its trunk, to the evident alarm of a smart 
chipmunk, who went chuttering away to 
another tree. 

Edith put her head against the tree and 
in just a moment the most remarkable 
thing happened ! 

She heard a little silvery tinkle and a big 
yellow and white butterfly drifted down 
right into her lap, and from its back there 
stepped off a tiny figure that looked as if 
it were made of bits of silver tissue. On its 


A FOX AND A FAIRY 


99 


head was a tiny cap like a violet blossom, 
and its eyes shone like the smallest of stars. 
It perched on her hand, and as Edith looked 
at him he bowed very low. 

“Is it Prince Tinkletoes?” whispered 
Edith, and the little figure bowed again, 
and vanished. But Edith felt something 
very close to her ear, and then she heard 
this thread of a voice say, “You must al- 
ways be a very brave girl, and you must do 
all you can to help Mrs. Freeman.” 

“Yes, indeed,” said Edith, and then her 
head nodded violently, and she woke up. 
“Dear me!” she said, “if I didn’t go to 
sleep. I almost believe that is all there is 
to fairies anyway,” and she jumped up 
quickly, picked up the kitten, and ran down 
the slope. 

“I guess I must go home,” she decided; 
“Mrs. Freeman will think that I am lost.” 
She started back through the wood, but she 
was a little dazed from her nap and hardly 
knew what direction to take. She wandered 


100 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


about for some time, but could not find her 
way out. 

“Oh, Tinkletoes !” she said. “Do you 
suppose we are lost?” And Tinkletoes 
gave a faint little mew, as if to say that he 
really believed they were. 

Edith was a sensible little girl, and she 
had always lived with people who knew 
the out-of-door world and had heard many 
stories of adventure. She remembered now 
of hearing her brother-in-law tell of once being 
lost in the woods and of climbing the highest 
tree near him, and being able from that 
height to see where he was, and to know 
in what direction to go. But this did not 
seem to be of much use to Edith. The tree- 
trunks were so round and smooth that she 
could not possibly climb even one of the 
smaller trees. 

“You could, Tinkletoes,” she said, looking 
at the kitten almost reproachfully. And then 
she remembered that cats could always find 
their way home, and with a gay little laugh 


A FOX AND A FAIRY 101 


she put Tinkletoes down. “ Now go straight 
home!” she commanded. And away scam- 
pered the kitten, with the little girl close be- 
hind him, and in a very little while they 
stood on the edge of the field and Edith 
could see the path that led toward home. 

“I guess good fairies whisper to kittens 
sometimes as well as to people,” she said 
as she hurried across the field. 

Dinner was all ready when Edith came in. 
“Eve been lost,” she exclaimed, in answer 
to Mrs. Freeman’s anxious questions, “and 
I’ve seen a fox and a fairy,” and she told 
of her morning’s adventures, greatly to the 
amusement of David and Hamilton. 

“Are you too tired to help make a load 
of hay this afternoon?” asked Hamilton. 

“No, indeed,” said Edith, who thought 
the ride in the big hay cart, and the treading 
down the fragrant hay as the boys pitched 
it into the rack, was the greatest frolic pos- 
sible. 

“I will help you,” said Mrs. Freeman, 


102 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“for I want to get the hay in as soon as 
possible so that Hamilton can have a spare 
day for a picnic.” 

The boys looked much pleased at this 
piece of news and hurried away to get the 
hay rack ready, while Edith and Mrs. Free- 
man washed the dishes. Tinkletoes had 
curled himself up in a sunny window and 
evidently was satisfied to rest quietly for 
the remainder of the day. 

“I wonder if the fox Edith saw is the one 
that has been carrying off my chickens/’ 
said Mrs. Freeman, as they joined the boys 
on the way to the hayfield. 

“I’ll bet there’s a whole family of them 
in those woods,” said Hamilton. “Prob- 
ably the one Edith saw was the mother fox 
out looking for a young bird or two to take 
home to her family. How many chickens 
have you lost, Mrs. Freeman?” 

“I have only missed two,” said Mrs. Free- 
man; “but last summer I lost seven in 
two nights.” 


A FOX AND A FAIRY 103 


“I tell you what, David,” said Hamilton, 
“ after we get this load in, let’s go over to 
the grove and try to get a shot at Mrs. 
Fox or one of the cubs.” 

“All right,” agreed David. 

Edith was very quiet all the afternoon. 
She kept thinking how pretty the fox was 
as it stood looking at her with its sharp, 
bright eyes, and she wondered about the 
little foxes. It seemed to her that she could 
not bear to have Hamilton or David kill the 
reddish yellow fox-mother which had not 
been afraid to come from behind the bush and 
look at her. She told Mrs. Freeman this as 
they rode home on the big load of hay. 

“But what about my pretty white 
chicks?” asked Mrs. Freeman. “Do you 
want them killed? If we do not frighten 
Madame Fox and her family away, we shan’t 
have a chicken left, and we might lose even 
Robin Goodfellow.” 

“I didn’t think about the chickens/’ 
said Edith. 


104 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“ Madame Fox and her family live by 
killing young birds, as well as chickens,” 
said Mrs. Freeman. “She is not a very 
desirable neighbor, and it will be a good plan 
to frighten her away.” But before the 
boys were ready to start for the grove a 
heavy shower came up, and the fox-hunt 
was postponed. 

“I hope Mrs. Fox and her family will go 
a long way off before to-morrow,” thought 
Edith. 

That evening David marked out a checker- 
board on a smooth piece of wood, and cut 
out some little squares for checkers. “Fll 
teach you how to play checkers,” as the 
little girl watched his busy fingers, “and we 
will call the game ‘War’; and one side can 
be the Confederate army and the other side 
the Union.” 

Mrs. Freeman was busy with her sewing 
and everything was very quiet, when sud- 
denly there came a loud squawking from 
the chicken-yard. Mrs. Freeman dropped 


A FOX AND A FAIRY 105 


her work, and David sprang toward the door 
exclaiming, "The fox !” Edith followed and 
in a moment all three were running toward 
the chicken-yard. 

Sure enough, sly reynard had paid them 
a visit and had captured another plump 
chicken. 

"I’ll bet I can get him this time,” said 
David; "probably he’ll make right for the 
walnut grove. I can take the rifle, can’t 
I, Mrs. Freeman?” 

"Yes, indeed,” she answered; and in a 
few minutes David was running across the 
field toward the grove, and Mrs. Freeman 
and Edith returned to the house to wait for 
him. 

"It was a reddish yellow fox,” said Edith, 
thoughtfully, "and its eyes were so bright. 
It was a pretty fox, Mrs. Freeman;” and 
the little girl’s voice was so mournful that 
Mrs. Freeman put her arm about Edith and 
drew her close to her side. 

"You don’t want the fox killed, do you, 


106 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


dear?” she said, and Edith shook her head 
vigorously. 

“I guess the fox don’t know it’s wrong to 
take chickens,” said the little girl. “The 
little foxes get hungry and they like chicken, 
so the mother and father fox go and catch 
a chicken for them. We eat chickens,” 
she concluded. 

“So we do,” said Mrs. Freeman, “and I 
believe that I shall be sorry, too, if David 
kills the pretty fox, although I hate to lose 
my plump chickens.” 

It was not long before David returned. 
“I couldn’t get a trace of reynard,” he said; 
“it was so dark that he had a good chance 
to slink away. I’ll try for him to-morrow.” 

But Mrs. Freeman had a plan for the next 
day which made David forget the fox, 
and so reynard went unpunished. 


CHAPTER IX 


bkuin's visit 

I T was very early the next morning when 
David heard a tap at his door, and Mrs. 
Freeman called his name. “David,” she 
said, “I want you to dress as quietly as 
possible, so that Edith will not be awakened ; 
breakfast is all ready.” 

“What time is it?” David responded 
sleepily. 

“It is half-past four,” was the answer. 
“Perhaps she has seen the fox,” thought 
David, as he sprang up and hurried down- 
stairs. “Have you seen the fox?” he asked 
as he entered the kitchen. 

Mrs. Freeman shook her head smilingly. 
“No!” she answered; “but I have a plan 
for Hamilton's pleasure to-day, and I want 
you to help me. Hamilton has had to work 
so hard all summer and has so much respon- 
107 


108 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


sibility that I think a day off will do him 
good, so this morning, as soon as we finish 
breakfast, I want you to ride and meet him. 
He starts from home about five, and you 
will meet him before he gets here, and tell 
him that I want you boys to go to Bream 
Pond and catch me a mess of pickerel. You 
can take Captain Freeman’s rods and lines 
along with you.” 

“That will be great!” said David, en- 
thusiastically. “But I wish you and Edith 
were coming, too.” 

“Well,” said Mrs. Freeman, “I think 
about noon that you boys will be a little 
hungry, and about that time you can expect 
to see Edith and me appear with a well- 
filled basket.” 

David’s thin face was bright and smiling, 
and he looked at Mrs. Freeman gratefully. 
“You are so good to me,” he said in a low 
voice, and added, “A month ago I thought 
I never should have a chance to be happy 
again.” 


BRUIN’S VISIT 


109 


Mrs. Freeman patted the boy’s shoulder 
affectionately. “You are going to be 
happy,” she said, “and you and Hamilton 
must have a real good time to-day. Tell 
him to be on the outlook for us about noon. 
Now eat your breakfast.” 

In a short time David was riding swiftly 
down the road, carrying the fishing rods, 
and eagerly anticipating a day’s sport. He 
had not gone over a mile before he saw 
Hamilton approaching, and in a few mo- 
ments had told him the plans for the day. 

“I wish we had a rifle along,” said Ham- 
ilton; “we might get a shot at a coyote or 
jack rabbit. But it will be fine to be at 
the pond to-day instead of working in the 
hayfield.” 

The way to the pond led over a road but 
little travelled and nearly overgrown with 
grass. “There used to be a sort of a dug- 
out kept on this side of the pond,” said 
Hamilton, as they came in sight of a small 
sheet of water. “I hope it’s there now.” 


110 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


They unsaddled their horses and tied 
them under a wide-branched tree, and then 
made their way to the shore. The dug-out 
was there, but nearly under water. 

“ There isn’t much interest in fishing since 
the War began,” said Hamilton, regretfully, 
as they took off their boots and waded into 
the pond. After a good deal of pushing and 
lifting the rough boat was turned bottom 
up on the shore, and the boys looked around 
for a couple of good stout poles to use to 
push the craft to the upper end of the pond, 
where, among the shallows and the tall 
water grasses, pickerel were known to lurk. 

“If that dug-out could lie in the sun 
to-day, it would be all the better for it,” 
said Hamilton, as they made preparations 
to launch once more their rude craft. The 
boat settled into the water more deeply than 
met their approval, but the boys decided it 
would be all right ; and with a can of angle- 
worms for bait and their rods and lines in 
readiness, they pushed out from shore. 


BRUIN'S VISIT 


111 


A little breeze ruffled the water, and the 
boys smiled at each other as they made their 
slow progress toward the fishing ground. 

“This is great!" said David, enthusias- 
tically. 

“You just wait until we begin to pull in 
the fish," responded Hamilton. 

“It seems to me this boat keeps settling," 
he said a moment later; “let's push nearer 
the shore so if she goes under we can save 
Captain Freeman's rods." 

David laughed as he put his pole into the 
water. 

“What about saving ourselves ?" he asked. 

“We could do that, I guess," responded 
Hamilton; “but the rods might slip away 
from us." 

“I hope the old thing will stay afloat until 
we get a chance at the fish," said David. 

They kept well inshore until Hamilton 
said, “We can push up among those reeds 
now. You get your lines ready, and I'll 
keep the boat steady." 


112 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“All right,” said David. “As soon as I 
pull in a three-pounder, I’ll give you a 
chance/’ and with a skilful throw he sent 
his line over a tall bunch of grass and waited. 

But it was a short wait, for in less than 
a moment he was playing a fine pickerel 
and soon landed it in the bottom of the boat. 
Twice more did his line fly skilfully into 
the lurking place of the unwary fish, and 
bring them floundering and resisting to the 
side of the dug-out. Then Hamilton began 
to get uneasy. 

“I believe we could both fish,” he said. 

“Of course we could,” responded David, 
heartily, who did not wish to shut his com- 
panion off from such good sport or to give 
up his own. 

Hamilton’s first throw brought in the 
largest pickerel yet captured, and the boy 
gave a little jump of delight at the size of 
the fish. 

“Look out there!” called David, but it 
was too late. The ticklish craft had toppled 


BRUIN’S VISIT 


113 


over, and the boys were floundering in the 
shallow, muddy water. 

Hamilton was the first to get a footing, and, 
looking about, saw that David was evidently 
trying to right the boat. 

“I’ve got my rod all right,” called Ham- 
ilton. 

“So have I,” answered David; “but the 
bait is gone and so are those big fish. Can 
you wade over here? I guess the old thing 
will stay up.” 

“It’s all my fault,” said Hamilton, as 
with great care the two boys again estab- 
lished themselves in the boat. “I don’t 
know how I came to make that foolish 
jump. What had we better do?” 

“We might get ashore and dig some more 
worms,” suggested David, “and get some 
of this mud off. Won’t we be a sight when 
Mrs. Freeman comes? But I do want to 
get some pickerel for her.” 

They made their way to the shore, laugh- 
ing at their adventures and at each other’s 


114 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


absurd appearance, but resolved not to be 
cheated out of their fish. With the help of 
a forked stick they secured more bait, wiped 
the mud from their trousers with the grass, 
and again embarked, this time with great 
care. 

“How shall we know when it is noon?” 
asked David, when they were again in the 
pickerel’s haunts and Hamilton was throw- 
ing his line, so far without success. 

Hamilton was facing toward the shore, 
and his attention was attracted by the 
movement of the tall grasses. 

“Look, David!” he responded in a low 
voice. “Just below where we went ashore; 
what is it?” 

David’s eyes fixed themselves on the spot 
indicated. A big brown figure was making 
its slow way down to the water. 

“It’s a bear!” he answered. 

The big creature waded out into the shal- 
lows and drank, then lifted its head and 
looked questioningly toward the dug-out. 


BRUIN'S VISIT 


115 


“Do you suppose he will wade out here?" 
asked David. Hamilton made no answer; 
a sharp pull on his line made him forget 
the bear for a moment. 

“I've got a bite!" he exclaimed, and 
pulled in a big pickerel. “I'll bet that old 
bear would like that," he said, waving 
his rod toward the shore. 

“What will we do?" said David. “It 
must be nearly time for Mrs. Freeman and 
Edith, and our horses are not half a mile 
down the shore. The bear may make a 
lot of trouble for us." 

“I guess not," said Hamilton. “He's 
had his dinner and come down for a drink, 
and probably feels pretty well satisfied with 
life and will go up there in the sun and sleep 
an hour or two." As he spoke, however, 
Hamilton was reeling up his line. “We 
had better keep quiet a few minutes and 
see what Mr. Bear's plans are," he said. 

“I hope this old craft won't sink about 
this time," whispered David. 


116 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Hamilton’s conclusions about the bear 
were apparently correct, for, after another 
look toward the boat, it turned and made its 
slow way up the bank and disappeared in 
the tall grass. 

“We’ll get back to the horses now,” 
said Hamilton, “for if Mrs. Freeman and 
Edith get to the landing before we do, they 
may come up along the shore, and I guess 
it’s just as well for them not to.” 

“I should say it was,” responded David, 
and as rapidly as possible the two boys poled 
the rickety craft down the pond, keeping 
well out from the shore. 

“Will Mrs. Freeman be frightened when 
we tell her about the bear?” questioned 
David. 

“Let’s not tell her,” responded Hamilton. 
“If we do, we will have to start for home 
right off, and she and Edith won’t have any 
good time at all. The bear won’t be apt to 
come down this way; he may plan to go 
pickerel fishing himself a little later, and we 


BRUIN’S VISIT 


117 


might as well build a fire and cook this one 
fish and forget about the bear.” 

“We will keep a sharp lookout,” answered 
David, a little doubtfully. 

When they came in sight of the landing, 
the boys could see Mrs. Freeman and Edith 
on the shore, waving to them. As soon as 
they brought the dug-out near enough to 
spring on shore, Edith called out : — 

“Oh, see! They are both soaking wet!” 

“We are pretty dry now,” replied Ham- 
ilton, laughing, “but we did get tipped 
out of this craft and had to walk ashore. 
And we lost four fine pickerel by the 
upset.” 

“Yes, we have had all sorts of adven- 
tures!” said David, but Hamilton gave 
him a warning glance. 

“What other adventures did you have?” 
asked Edith, eagerly. 

“What would you say if I told you that 
we saw a Great Big Bear f” said Hamilton, 
in a deep voice. 


118 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Edith laughed. “I should say you were 
trying to frighten me,” she said. 

“ There is a bag of oats in the buggy,” 
said Mrs. Freeman. “I think the horses 
will be quite ready for their dinner.” 

“I will make a fire, David, if you will look 
after the horses,” suggested Hamilton, and 
David hurried away. 

When he had looked after the horses, he 
walked up the shore of the lake a short dis- 
tance and looked about and listened care- 
fully, but he saw or heard nothing to alarm 
him and returned to his friends, feeling that 
perhaps Hamilton was right after all, and 
that it was better not to spoil Mrs. Freeman’s 
day by telling her of the possibility of danger. 

Mrs. Freeman had brought a tin coffee- 
pot, and when David got back to the shore 
the fire was blazing noisily, the coffee-pot 
was steaming with fragrance, and Hamilton 
had dressed the pickerel and was broiling 
it on a hot, flat rock which rested on a bed 
of red-hot coals. “ There will be a taste of 


BRUIN'S VISIT 


119 


fish for us, anyway," said Hamilton, “but 
just think of those big fellows we lost." 

“These things smell almost too good," 
said David, sniffing at the broiling fish. 

“Do they?" asked Hamilton, anxiously, 
“I didn’t think about that. You don’t 
suppose — ," and he stopped suddenly. 

“Suppose what?" asked Mrs. Freeman. 

“Why, that the Great Big Bear I was 
telling Edith about will smell our dinner 
and come racing down here after it," he 
answered. 

“If there was a bear near here, he would 
probably do just that very thing," said 
Mrs. Freeman. 

Hamilton jumped up from his seat near 
the fire so suddenly that he nearly upset 
the coffee-pot. 

“What would we do if a Great Big Bear 
came right down here?" asked Edith. 

“Run," said Mrs. Freeman, laughingly, 
“and let him eat the hot fish and coffee 


instead of us." 


120 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


David and Hamilton were so quiet that 
Mrs. Freeman began to fear that they had 
taken cold. They both said that they had 
all the fishing they wanted; and when after 
lunch Mrs. Freeman proposed a walk to- 
ward the head of the pond, the boys both 
declared that it was much prettier in the 
other direction; and David went valiantly 
ahead, while Hamilton followed the little 
party. 

David said that the dug-out was not safe 
to go in far from shore, so Mrs. Freeman and 
Edith had to give up their plan for a little 
trip across the pond. 

“We had better make an early start for 
home, hadn’t we?” suggested Hamilton. 

“Oh, yes!” eagerly seconded David, so 
that Mrs. Freeman began to observe the 
boys more closely. She could see that both 
of them jumped at any cracking of the 
underbrush, and that they went to see that 
the horses were all right and were gone an 
unusual length of time, coming back to the 


BRUIN’S VISIT 


121 


shore flushed and hurried as if from running, 
and she began to wonder if it was possible 
that the boys had really seen a bear. 

About three in the afternoon Black Betty 
was harnessed into the buggy, the boys care- 
fully extinguished every trace of the fire 
and saddled their horses, and they were 
ready to start. 

‘Til go ahead,” volunteered Hamilton; 
“you follow me, Mrs. Freeman, and David 
will bring up the rear.” 

“Why, that sounds quite like a military 
excursion,” said Mrs. Freeman. 

“Yes,” answered David, “Hamilton and 
I want to keep a lookout for the enemy.” 

“Are Hamilton and David playing a 
game?” asked Edith, as they drove along. 

“Perhaps they are,” replied Mrs. Freeman. 

“Then I think that they might tell us so 
that we could play too,” said Edith. 

“Perhaps it is part of the game for us not 
to know,” said Mrs. Freeman. 

Edith was looking eagerly from side to side. 


122 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“I guess I saw something you boys didn’t 
see/’ she said, when they came to the main 
road, where Hamilton was to leave them. 
“Back there a little way I saw a big brown 
dog lying down in the grass.” 

“What?” exclaimed both the boys so 
loudly that Edith laughed. 

“Yes, I did,” she repeated. “But I don’t 
believe you could find him now, for it was 
as much as a mile back, just after we left 
the pond.” 

“It was a bear!” said David, and then 
the boys told Mrs. Freeman of seeing bruin 
near the head of the lake and of not wishing 
to frighten her and Edith. 

“We kept a close lookout,” said Hamilton, 
“and the bear was so fat that I felt sure he 
didn’t feel hungry enough to do much harm. 
I guess David and I could have frightened 
him away.” 

“Oh, yes, indeed!” said Edith, “I know 
you could.” 

But Mrs. Freeman did not feel nearly as 


BRUIN’S VISIT 


123 


sure, although she said, “Both of you were 
very brave and thoughtful, but I am thank- 
ful enough that we are safely on our way 
home.” 

“But it was such a fat bear, Mrs. Free- 
man,” said Hamilton. “I couldn’t really be 
afraid of anything as fat as that bear.” 

After bidding Hamilton good-by David 
sent his big horse along at a good pace, 
followed closely by Black Betty, and home 
was soon reached. 

Hamilton arrived in good season the next 
morning, and he and David discussed the 
pickerel fishing and the bear. 

“This is a great country for game,” de- 
clared Hamilton. “But you wait until the 
War is over and Captain Freeman and my 
father get home, and you won’t hear of a 
bear in this neighborhood. You’ll be well 
enough to go back to your regiment pretty 
soon, won’t you, David?” 

“I hope so,” replied the deserter, with a 
little sigh. 


CHAPTER X 


A VISIT TO BRIDGE ROCK 

S David grew stronger, Mrs. Freeman 



thought of many plans to entertain 
and amuse him; and a week after the trip 
to the pond she decided to give Hamilton 
another holiday, and to drive with Edith 
and the boys to The Corners, get Kitty and 
Puss, and then go on to a place known as 
Bridge Rock, where a bridge of rock, wide 
enough to walk over, bridged a wide brook. 

The weather proved favorable on the 
day decided upon, the Jones twins were 
delighted to go on a picnic, and Black Betty 
and the big gray went together very nicely. 
Hamilton and David had put a pole on the 
carryall. Mrs. Freeman, David, and Puss 
sat on the front seat, and Edith, Kitty, and 
Hamilton were on the rear seat. 


124 


A VISIT TO BRIDGE ROCK 125 


A pleasant cross-country drive of about 
six miles brought them into a more hilly 
region, and now and then the road led 
through a stretch of woodland. 

“I never knew there were such pretty 
places in the world,” said Edith. 

“Wait till you see Bridge Rock,” said 
Hamilton. “It is as much as thirty feet 
above the stream. Once some boys I knew 
tried to climb up the cliff, but they had to 
give it up.” 

“Why did they have to give it up?” ques- 
tioned Edith. 

“You will see why when we get there,” 
answered Hamilton. “For a few feet the 
sides of the cliff are rough, and little shrubs 
grow here and there ; but before you are half- 
way up the stones get smooth so there isn’t 
anything to get hold of.” 

They had made an early start and before 
noon had turned from the main road into a 
rough cart-track which led to Bridge Rock. 
They drove into a little clearing near the 


126 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


stream and the boys looked after the horses, 
while Mrs. Freeman and the little girls fol- 
lowed a woodland path leading up a slope 
to where the bridge crossed the stream. 

“How wide is it?” questioned Edith. 

“I think it is about five feet in width and 
about ten feet long,” replied Mrs. Freeman. 
Grass grew along its edges and here and there 
a slender little bush clung to the rock. 

“Can we go across it?” asked Kitty. 
Mrs. Freeman hesitated a moment and then, 
with a little laugh, said: “Why, of course 
you may. Edith may go first and come 
back, and then Puss can go, and then Kitty, 
and I will go last of all.” 

“Can’t Puss and I go together?” asked 
Kitty. But Mrs. Freeman shook her head. 
“No, each one must go alone,” she said; 
“it is hardly wide enough for two little 
people to walk across together.” 

Edith made the trip, and stopped in the 
centre to look down at the boys in the clear- 
ing below. 


A VISIT TO BRIDGE ROCK 127 


“I gueth I don't want to go acroth," 
said Puss. 

“Oh, yes, you do," urged Kitty. “You 
will be sorry, when father asks you about it, 
to say that you were afraid." 

“I'm not afraid," objected Puss, “I jutht 
don't want to." But a few persuasions from 
Kitty and Edith apparently overcame her 
fears, and Puss started out boldly. She had 
reached the middle of the bridge when a 
shrill cry startled the others. 

“Oh — !" wailed Puss, coming to a full 
stop. “I'm thcared! I’ll fall into the 
brook — oh — oh ! " 

“Go right on, Puss," said Mrs. Freeman. 
“Walk straight ahead, it's only a few steps 
more." 

“I can't! I can't!" sobbed the child, 
crouching down. “I dathent!" 

“Puss," said Mrs. Freeman, “get up and 
go straight across this minute." 

Puss knew from the tone that obedience 
was expected, but to rise to her feet and 


128 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


deliberately walk on was beyond her courage ; 
so, sinking to her hands and knees, she crept 
slowly over the bridge to the other side, 
and then turned toward her friends. They 
were all laughing now ; the moment of 
fear had passed at the sight of Puss’s sturdy 
little figure going over the bridge bear- 
fashion. 

“Now are you going to walk back, or 
creep back?” asked Mrs. Freeman. 

“I gueth I’ll walk,” said Puss, smilingly, 
and the smile lasted until she was safely 
back beside her sister. 

The boys had started a fire near the 
edge of the stream and were roasting 
potatoes. 

“They taste fine to eat them out of their 
jackets like this,” said Hamilton, cutting off 
the crispy end of a potato and putting a 
pinch of salt into the mealy centre. 

After lunch the boys went in search of 
berries, and Mrs. Freeman said she believed 
that she would take a little nap, and Edith 


A VISIT TO BRIDGE ROCK 129 


suggested that the twins should go with her 
for a little walk up the stream under the 
bridge. 

"Do you s’pose anybody could climb up 
there ?” Kitty asked wonderingly, as the 
little girls stopped under the bridge and 
looked up. 

"I guess I could,” said Edith. "I don’t 
see why those boys Hamilton told about 
could not go ’way up. Why, there are lots 
of little humps on those smooth-looking 
stones that they could climb up by.” 

"I than’t climb up there!” said Puss, 
fearfully. 

"Of course you won’t,” said Kitty, reas- 
suringly. "Nobody could climb up there.” 

Edith’s eyes were still gazing longingly up 
the rough sides of the cliff. 

"I suppose it would spoil my shoes to 
climb up there,” she said thoughtfully. 

"You could take off your shoes,” suggested 
Kitty. "Boys are ’most always barefooted, 
and I guess you could keep hold better in 


130 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


some places with your toes than if you had 
on shoes.” 

“Why, of course I could, Kitty,” said 
Edith, immediately sitting down on a flat 
rock and beginning to unlace her shoes. 
“And you and Puss just take my shoes and 
stockings and go up the path to the top 
and wait for me.” 

Kitty looked at her admiringly. “I guess 
Hamilton will be surprised when he hears 
that you climbed right up where boys 
couldn't,” she said. 

“I shouldn’t think they were very smart 
boys, then,” said Edith. 

Puss viewed these proceedings with a 
doubtful eye, and was very near to tears 
when led away by her bolder sister, carry- 
ing Edith’s shoes and stockings. 

The first of the climb was comparatively 
easy ; and though a sharp stone or rough root 
hurt Edith’s feet occasionally, she did not 
mind it, for her heart was filled with a deter- 
mination to surprise Hamilton and David. 


A VISIT TO BRIDGE ROCK 131 


“I guess Mrs. Freeman will be proud if I 
can do things that boys can’t do/’ thought 
Edith as she toiled valiantly upward. A 
stout little shrub here and there gave her 
assistance, but as she got higher up the 
shrubs were smaller, and stretches of com- 
paratively smooth surface were before her. 
She could not see Puss and Kitty now, but 
she knew they must be at the top waiting 
for her. She dared not look behind her for 
fear she should lose her hold. Her feet 
began to ache from frequent bruises and 
contact with the rough rock, and her hands 
were scratched. She had torn her pretty 
gingham dress in several places, and by the 
time she was half-way up she heartily 
wished that she had not made the attempt. 
She began to wonder how the boys had got 
down after getting half-way up, for she felt 
very sure that it was safer and easier to go 
ahead than to turn back. There were 
rough places on the rock surface that 
afforded her a doubtful foothold, and her 


132 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


hands clung desperately to every possible 
crevice or projection as she crawled up- 
wards. 

She had accomplished about two-thirds of 
the ascent when David and Hamilton came 
under the bridge and looked up. Hamilton 
was the first to see her, and with a gesture 
he called David’s attention to the little 
figure working its dangerous way up the 
face of the rock. 

“Don’t say a word,” whispered Hamilton. 
“We’ve got to help her as quickly as we 
can; come on,” and the boys made their 
way toward the wagon. They took the 
stout leather reins and ran rapidly toward 
the bridge. There was not time to awaken 
Mrs. Freeman and tell her of Edith’s desper- 
ate venture. Both David and Hamilton 
realized that there was not a moment to lose. 

Reaching the top of the bridge, Hamilton 
lay down on his face and looked over. 
Edith had advanced but a few inches since 
he saw her. Her eyes, looking up, met his. 



Both David and Hamilton realized that there was not 

a moment to lose. — Page 132. 





A VISIT TO BRIDGE ROCK 133 


“ Edith,” he said slowly, “ here’s something 
to help you. Take a good grip on this 
strap that I’m letting down, and hold on 
tight and we’ll pull you up.” 

“But I can’t,” she called back. “If I let 
go of this little rock I’ll fall.” 

“All right,” responded Hamilton. “Just 
hang on where you are and I’ll slip a noose 
over your head. Manage to get your arms 
over it.” 

It was a desperate remedy, but it proved 
successful. The leather noose dropped 
around the girl’s shoulders, one arm shot 
up through it and grasped the strap, the 
noose tightened, there came a steady, up- 
ward pull, and in a few minutes the boys 
had drawn the little figure safely to the top. 
They lifted her into safety, loosened the 
noose, and then looked at her questioningly. 

“Didn’t you know better than to try to 
do that?” said Hamilton. “I told you 
that some boys tried one time to climb up 
and couldn’t,” 


134 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“You didn't tell me that any girls ever 
tried and couldn’t/' answered Edith. 

“See her poor feet/' said David, taking 
his handkerchief out ready to bandage a 
poor bruised toe. Just then Kitty and 
Puss appeared. 

“I gueth we got lotht/' said Puss; “we’ve 
jutht got up here." 

The twins looked at Edith in surprise. 
Her bruised hands and feet, her torn dress, 
and a scratch on her face made her rather a 
tragic figure. 

“I wonder what Mrs. Freeman will say to 
this ! " said Hamilton, soberly. 

At this Edith began to cry. “0 dear," 
she sobbed. “I thought that she would be 
so proud to have me climb up where boys 
couldn't; and now I've torn my dress and 
got all scratched up and perhaps she will be 
sorry that she ever had me come to live 
with her. 0 dear!" 

David sat down by the forlorn little 
figure and put his arm about her. “Mrs. 


A VISIT TO BRIDGE ROCK 135 


Freeman will understand,” he said. “You 
just put on your stockings and shoes and 
wipe your eyes, and Kitty will help you pin 
up your dress, and we will go down and tell 
her all about it. I know just what she will 
say,” and he smiled down at Edith’s anxious 
face. 

“What will she say?” questioned Edith. 

“She will say, ‘Well, wasn’t it lucky that 
Hamilton saw you just when he did,’ and 
then she will say, ‘I’m glad enough to have 
my little red-headed girl safe and sound.’ ” 

Edith smiled at this, and after Hamilton 
and Kitty had laced up her shoes they all 
went slowly down the hill. 

Mrs. Freeman was picking up the shawls 
and looked up at the little procession with 
a smiling welcome. Before she could speak 
David had told the story of the adventure 
and of Hamilton’s presence of mind; and 
when he finished Edith felt Mrs. Freeman’s 
arms about her and heard her say: “Well, I 
am glad enough to have my little girl safe 


136 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


and sound. She mustn't try to be braver 
than other people; I like her just as she is." 

On the way home Mrs. Freeman sat on 
the back seat with Edith and Puss, and 
Edith leaned her head against her good 
friend and went fast asleep and did not 
waken until they stopped at The Corners. 


CHAPTER XI 


DAVID DISAPPEARS 

A FTER the picnic Mrs. Freeman and 
Edith were so busy that the “ Acad- 
emy” held very irregular sessions. David 
Goddard proved a good assistant in mathe- 
matics, and Edith became expert in frac- 
tions, which David taught by slicing a potato 
into sections, explaining what one-sixteenth 
really was. 

It had been decided that David’s mother 
was not to visit him. As he grew stronger 
he realized how unhappy his mother would 
be to know of his desertion from the army, 
and Mrs. Freeman agreed with him that it 
was better she should not know at present. 
Letters had been sent to Captain Marr and 
to Captain Freeman, and to Washington, 
and Mrs. Freeman was full of confidence 
137 


138 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


that David would be allowed to return to 
his regiment. He was now anxious to go, 
and letters were expected to tell him what 
his fate would be. Hamilton believed that 
David was on a furlough, and seized every 
chance to ask him about his army experi- 
ences, listening admiringly to all that David 
said. His admiration for the army, and for 
David as one of its soldiers, was so evident 
that, almost unconsciously, David began to 
pride himself upon being a soldier. Then, 
too, he could see how hard Mrs. Freeman 
worked to keep her home in comfort be- 
cause of her husband being in the army, 
and of the pride with which she spoke of 
his service for his country. He heard of the 
flag which was always kept flying at The 
Corners, and gradually the real spirit of 
loyalty and patriotism awoke in the boy's 
heart ; and he longed for the very hardships 
from which he had fled, if by bearing them 
he might do even a little toward establish- 
ing the honor and strength of his country. 


DAVID DISAPPEARS 


139 


When Hamilton and Mrs. Freeman had 
finished their day’s work, they would all sit 
together on the front porch for a “rest 
hour,” as Mrs. Freeman said, before Hamil- 
ton started for home. Then she would tell 
the boys stories of the world’s great heroes: 
of Cromwell’s undying courage, of Welling- 
ton, the “Iron Duke,” and of our own Wash- 
ington; of the hardships and sufferings 
which they had endured for the cause of 
right. The boys were stimulated to new 
ideals of valor and courage, while Edith 
listened eagerly, thinking to herself that 
some day she would do some brave act, 
not for her country, perhaps, but for Mrs. 
Freeman. 

In a short time the grain and hay were 
all under cover, and Hamilton no longer 
rode over every morning and home at night. 
David was now able to be of great assistance. 
He cared for Black Betty and the big gray 
horse, looked after the cow, and was begin- 
ning to dig the potatoes. Every day he 


140 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


grew in strength, and his gentleness had 
already won Mrs. Freeman’s affections. 

“I think we ought to knit woollen stock- 
ings for the soldiers,” said Edith one day, as 
she “toed off” her own white stockings. 

“Why, what a wise little girl !” said Mrs. 
Freeman. “That is just what we ought to 
do, and we’ll begin with our own soldiers, 
Captain Freeman and David. But we can’t 
begin until we get some woollen yarn. You 
see we haven’t a sheep to our name; and 
not having sheep, why, there were no white 
fleecy rolls to be made into yarn.” 

“Can’t we get some?” asked Edith, 
eagerly. 

“Well,” said Mrs. Freeman, “I believe I’ll 
ask David to saddle up this very afternoon 
and go to The Corners and see what Mr. 
Jones has.” 

David agreed cheerfully and started off 
with a note for Mr. Jones. 

As he rode away, looking so straight and 
well, Mrs. Freeman said to herself, “I’m 


■Km 





Then she would tell the boys stories of the world’s 

great heroes. — Page 139. 








*- 









* 

. 












DAVID DISAPPEARS 


141 


sure I have done right. He will make a 
good soldier.” 

That afternoon Edith began the letter to 
her sister Eliza. She told her of how much 
she was learning; of the new white open- 
worked stockings, and of how happy she 
was, and finished the letter by saying that 
perhaps she would come and visit Eliza 
some time in October. Mrs. Freeman had 
suggested the visit, as she wished Eliza to 
feel that her little sister was not forgetting 
her. 

After the letter was finished, Edith and 
Mrs. Freeman gathered the sage and spread 
it to dry on papers in the long, low attic, 
already fragrant with other herbs. 

This attic was very low, a grown person 
could hardly stand upright in it, but Edith 
thought it was a beautiful place. There 
were long, narrow windows in each end. 
The western window opened right toward, 
and over, a big russet apple tree. Near this 
window was a small black leather trunk 


142 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


with rows of brass-headed tacks around the 
top. 

“That would be a lovely place to keep 
Grace’s clothes in, wouldn’t it?” suggested 
Edith. 

“Of course it would,” agreed Mrs. Free- 
man. “And don’t you think that this 
corner right by the window would be a fine 
place for Grace to live? You can call it 
Grace’s house, and keep her and all her 
belongings up here; then when it is stormy 
or cold, or when you want to be alone with 
Grace, you can run up and visit her, and 
other times you can keep her downstairs.” 

“ Oh,” exclaimed Edith, “ I didn’t write 
Eliza a word about Grace !” 

“Never mind, you will have that to tell 
her when you go on your visit,” replied Mrs. 
Freeman. 

The afternoon passed very quickly, and 
when the early dusk came, they began to 
watch for David’s return. Mrs. Freeman 
had started a little fire in the open Franklin 


DAVID DISAPPEARS 


143 


stove in the sitting room, and the reflection 
of the blaze on the window-glass made a 
pleasant light through the room. In the 
kitchen there was an appetizing odor of 
broiled ham, and a dish of freshly baked 
apples had just been taken from the oven. 

“ David couldn’t get lost, could he?” 
questioned Edith, as the clock struck seven 
and there was yet no sign of him. 

“I don’t think he could,” replied Mrs. 
Freeman. “You know he went to The 
Corners with me last week, and had such a 
nice talk with Mr. Jones. I suppose he has 
lingered longer than he realized. But it 
will do him good to listen to Mr. Jones. 
There is no more loyal man in the State.” 

But as the evening passed and David did 
not come, Mrs. Freeman grew very anxious. 
Edith went to bed early without a doubt 
that David must be on his way home. Mrs. 
Freeman sat in the fire-lit room and waited. 
She could not bear to doubt David’s honesty ; 
but he was strong, mounted on a good horse, 


144 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


with a dollar or two of money, given him to 
purchase the yarn, in his pocket. If he 
wanted to run away, he would never have 
a better chance; and yet she was somehow 
sure of the boy’s honesty. Until midnight 
she waited for him, and then, with an 
anxious heart, she went to her room and 
tried to sleep. Her slumbers were restless, 
and before daylight she was up and out on 
the piazza, looking down the road toward 
The Corners and hoping for a sight of David. 

Edith came down to breakfast at the 
usual hour and ran out on the piazza. “Can 
I pick up potatoes this morning?” she 
asked, as she skipped up and down the 
piazza. “And did David get the yarn?” 

“David has not come yet,” answered Mrs. 
Freeman. “I sat up for him until nearly 
midnight.” 

“Then something has happened to him,” 
said Edith. 

Mrs. Freeman’s face seemed to brighten at 
this. “Why, I haven’t thought of any 


DAVID DISAPPEARS 


145 


accident,” she said, smiling down at Edith as 
if the little girl had brought her good news. 

“You don’t want anything to happen to 
David, do you?” asked Edith, wonderingly. 

“You dear child, of course I don’t. But 
I have had very unhappy thoughts about 
him. I have been thinking that perhaps 
David was a coward after all, and that 
now that he is well and strong he has taken 
the first chance to run away again. So you 
see that I would much rather think that 
some accident has detained him.” 

“Would you rather he had broken his 
leg?” asked Edith. 

“Why, yes,” answered Mrs. Freeman. 
“His leg would soon mend itself; but if he 
has been false again to his promises, his 
whole life will be injured beyond mending.” 

But David’s leg was not broken, nor had 
any accident befallen him. All night long 
he had pushed the big gray to its utmost 
speed. For David was carrying a message 
for Mr. Jones, and upon the speed of the 


146 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


horse and the honesty of the deserter hung 
the fate of an Illinois regiment. 

When David arrived at the store, Mr. 
Jones greeted him eagerly. “ Young man,” 
he said, “I am going to give you a chance 
to make yourself famous and to save a regi- 
ment. You will have to ride two hundred 
miles to do it. You will have to go hungry, 
like enough, and you’ll be shot if your busi- 
ness is discovered, but you must do it.” 

‘Til do it if it can be done,” answered 
David; “but I guess I ought to tell you 
something, sir, before you trust me. I’m a 
deserter. I hid in Mrs. Freeman’s hay-shed 
and she found me. But I didn’t know what 
I was doing when I ran away,” continued 
the boy. “I’m going back even if I go 
back to be shot.” 

Mr. Jones put his arm on the boy’s shoulder 
and looked into his face. “You are just 
the one I’d choose if I had my pick of a 
dozen,” he said. “If you carry this through 
in safety, you will win back your right to be 


DAVID DISAPPEARS 


147 


a soldier. If you fail, you will have failed 
in trying to help your country. I have 
discovered a dastardly scheme,” he con- 
tinued. “An Illinois regiment has planned 
to go over bodily to the Confederacy. 
They have their arms and ammunition. 
Their plan is to surrender to an attack of a 
small body of Confederate soldiers. Now I 
have written this all out, the plan of the 
whole thing, and how I discovered it. You 
must carry this paper to General McCler- 
nand’s headquarters and deliver it into his 
hands as soon as possible, so that these 
traitors can be blocked. You must start at 
once. If you live, I shall know it. If you 
die, you die for your country, a brave soldier.” 

David concealed the paper carefully in- 
side of his soft flannel shirt, and a few 
minutes later the long strides of the gray 
horse were carrying him swiftly toward the 
boundary line of the State. 


CHAPTER XII 


THE MAKING OF A HERO 

FTER David was well on his way, he 



-£jL remembered the errand on which 
Mrs. Freeman had sent him, and which he 
had entirely forgotten. The note to Mr. 
Jones and the money for the yarn were in 
his pocket. Almost unconsciously he 
brought the big gray horse to a stop. 
What would Mrs. Freeman think? That 
he had kept the money for himself? Then 
he smiled at the thought, remembering Mrs. 
Freeman’s confidence in his honesty. ‘ ‘ She’ll 
understand that I didn’t think of it,” thought 
the boy. “Mr. Jones will tell her how he 
hurried me off, and she’ll understand.” So 
he urged the gray horse on. 

It was well past midnight when he made 
his first stop. Mr. Jones had given him a 


148 


THE MAKING OF A HERO 149 


package of food, and David made a sparing 
lunch, knowing that the chances were that 
he would not be able to secure food on the 
next day’s journey. He hoped to reach his 
destination in another twenty-four hours, 
and he realized that his horse must have 
rest. 

When he turned in from the road he 
found shelter behind a thick-growing mass 
of wild sumac, and here he took off the 
gray’s saddle and turned him loose, knowing 
the horse would come at his call. A clear 
little stream flowed near by, and both horse 
and rider drank eagerly. David planned to 
rest only two hours and then push on, but 
he was soon asleep and did not awake until 
the gray light of morning. His horse stood 
close beside him. 

He had just picked up the saddle when 
he heard the sound of hoofs on the soft 
road. In a moment he could distinguish 
voices. It was apparently a large body of 
mounted men going in the opposite direction 


150 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


from which David was bound. He was glad 
he had not started in time to encounter 
them. Had he known who the travellers 
were, he would have realized his escape from 
a very real danger. They were members of 
the disloyal regiment, even now on their 
way to an established rendezvous. 

It was noon before Mrs. Freeman and 
Edith made up their minds that David was 
really not coming, and that they must go 
in search of him. Black Betty was har- 
nessed, and they started toward The Corners, 
driving slowly, and constantly on the lookout 
for some sign of the big horse or its rider. 

“Have you seen David ?” Mrs. Freeman 
called out before they had reached the store. 

“Why, yes,” said Mr. Jones. “He 
stopped here yesterday a few minutes.” 

“Did he get any yarn?” asked Edith, 
eagerly. 

“No,” answered Mr. Jones, slowly. “I 
don’t recall that he mentioned yarn.” 


THE MAKING OF A HERO 151 


This seemed to confirm Mrs. Freeman’s 
worst fears, and for a moment she was 
silent. 

“You don’t need to worry about him,” 
said Mr. Jones, but he did not explain the 
reason of David’s disappearance. Those 
were troublous times, and his secret was of 
such importance that the loyal man had 
resolved not to mention it until he was 
assured of David’s safety. 

“But we expected him home,” continued 
Mrs. Freeman. 

“Did you? Well, now, ma’am, if you ask 
me, I’d be willing to say that I shouldn’t be 
surprised a bit if that boy had started out 
to join the army, and being in a hurry for- 
got to mention about the yarn. What kind 
of yarn was you wanting, ma’am?” and Mr. 
Jones turned to go into the store, and Mrs. 
Freeman and Edith slowly followed him. 

Edith found a chance to whisper, “He 
hasn’t run away, I know he hasn’t,” behind 
Mr. Jones’s back. 


152 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Mrs. Freeman did not answer. She had 
sheltered and interceded for a deserter, she 
thought, and made herself responsible for 
him because he was so young and ill; and 
this was the result : at the first opportunity 
he had run away again rather than face the 
results of his desertion. 

“We won’t need to buy yarn to knit 
David stockings,” she said. 

“Oh, can’t I knit some for him?” pleaded 
Edith. “Mr. Jones says he’s almost sure 
David has gone back to the army, and he 
will need stockings anyway.” 

Mr. Jones nodded approvingly. “Don’t 
you cherish any doubts about that boy, 
ma’am,” he said. “I guess I’d better tell 
you right now that he has gone back to the 
army.” 

“I presume he would say so,” said Mrs. 
Freeman, a little bitterly, and selected her 
yarn without any further reference to David. 

Mr. Jones saw them start for home and 
looked after them mournfully. ‘ ‘ Seems kind 


THE MAKING OF A HERO 153 


of unfair to the boy not to tell Mrs. Freeman 
about what he's set out to do/' he reflected, 
“but she will have to wait for the good 
news. He’ll be a hero the next time she 
hears about him. Hope the little girl will 
begin the stockings for him." 

They were very silent on the way home. 
Mrs. Freeman's thoughts were not happy 
ones, for David seemed very near to her. 
Edith was wondering if she could not knit 
David the stockings after all. The little girl 
did not doubt David’s honesty; she thought 
perhaps he would be at home when they got 
there. 

David knew his course well, and often left 
the main road to ride across a strip of grass- 
land or to skirt some narrow stretch of 
woodland, thinking that if by any chance he 
should be followed this would mislead his 
pursuers. At noon he rode the big gray in 
among a thick-growing cluster of young oaks 
and dismounted. He did not unsaddle this 


154 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


time, and there was no water near, and both 
horse and rider were very thirsty. David 
knew that before dusk he must cross the 
Mississippi River. He knew that a ferry- 
man could be summoned by blowing a horn, 
kept in a small box on a post on David’s 
side of the river ; but David did not feel dis- 
posed to trust the ferryman, who might be 
an ally of the disloyal regiment. 

The boy had resolved on a bolder course. 
He would endeavor to ford the river. He 
had confidence that the big gray would carry 
him safely over. After the brief rest at 
noon, David rode more slowly. Once or 
twice he let his horse rest in the shade of 
some big tree, wishing to reserve his strength 
as much as possible for the ordeal before him. 

It was early dusk when he rode down to 
the river’s edge. The water looked dark 
and uncertain, and the boy wondered how 
deep it would prove. The river was not 
wide at that point, and here and there were 
bars of sand showing above the water, so 


THE MAKING OF A HERO 155 


that David had reason to think it shallow 
enough for him to make the passage easily. 

The big gray ventured in cautiously, but 
after a little he gained confidence and went 
forward more rapidly.- They had reached 
the middle of the river and David’s anxiety 
had vanished, when his horse suddenly 
plunged forward and the boy was thrown 
over his head into the river. The current 
was strong, and as soon as David realized 
what had happened to him he also knew 
that he was being carried swiftly down- 
stream. 

His first thought was that he must not be 
carried down-stream. He must not drown, 
he thought wildly, until that message was 
delivered, until he had redeemed himself. 
He could not swim, but the current swept 
him near a sand bar and he managed to gain 
footing upon it. 

As he looked back, he could see the gray 
horse swimming toward the shore. Then a 
new fear seized the boy. How could he 


156 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


ever reach the shore without his horse ? He 
could not swim, and there was no other way 
possible unless the big gray would answer to 
his call and come back to him. David knew 
that every moment was precious. He gave 
the long whistle to which the horse had 
been taught to respond. The horse recog- 
nized his master’s call and turned down- 
stream. In a few moments he stood beside 
David on the sand bar. He was evidently 
very tired, and the boy gave him a chance 
to rest for a few moments before he mounted. 
This time the gray did not stumble, but 
reached shore and bravely made his way up 
the bank. 

It was now dim and shadowy with the 
coming night. A cold wind blew off the 
river, and David shivered in his wet, clinging 
clothes. The big horse breathed heavily. 
Except the grass he had cropped during 
their brief rest, he had had nothing to eat 
for two days, and David knew that he must 
in some way give him a good feed and rest, 


THE MAKING OF A HERO 157 


or he could never hold out for the journey. 
But he dreaded the questions that might be 
asked should he stop at any house on the 
road. 

The horse walked slowly on, his head 
hanging, his breath coming heavily. As 
David looked anxiously ahead, he could see 
the long, dark outlines of a building near the 
road, and as he came nearer he saw that it 
was a rough shack and outbuildings, such as 
were built by the early settlers of the West. 
There was no sign of occupancy. The place 
was evidently deserted. David rode up 
toward the back of the house and dis- 
mounted. He soon satisfied himself that 
no one was there. He pushed open the 
door to the low barn and peered in. 
Through the shadows he could see that 
the loft was filled with hay, and he hesi- 
tated no longer, but led the big gray in. 

As he looked about he noticed a large 
wooden box, and lifted the lid. It was 
nearly full of oats. This was unexpected 


158 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


good fortune, and the tired horse was soon 
munching happily while David rubbed him 
down and groomed him as best he could 
with wisps of dry hay, for David realized 
that it was more important that his horse 
should be in good condition than that he 
should rest himself. 

After he had finished this duty, he went 
to the barn door and looked out. He 
wondered if there was not a fireplace in 
the ill-built little house, and wished that he 
dared go in, build a fire, and dry his wet 
clothes. But he did not make the venture. 
His package of food was all gone and he 
was hungry; but there was no way in 
which he could get food. As he leaned 
against the door he heard a whir in the 
haymow and looked up. A hen was peer- 
ing at him over the edge of the lower fall of 
hay. Her anxious head cocked on one side 
as if to inquire what he did there. 

“Eggs,” thought David, happily, and 
clambered into the loft, while the anxious 


THE MAKING OF A HERO 159 


Biddy went fluttering about as if trying to 
frighten him away. He soon found a nest, 
and as there were only three eggs in it, he 
was sure that they were reasonably fresh, 
and lost no time in eating them. Then he 
went down and pushed the shaky door to 
and crept back to the haymow for a rest. 
He knew that it must be only for a little 
while, only long enough for his horse to 
feed and rest. 

He did not go to sleep, but snuggled down 
in the warm hay, thinking about Mrs. Free- 
man and Edith, and wondering what Mr. 
Jones had told them about his disappearance, 
and what they would say when they knew of 
his adventurous ride. The big gray champed 
steadily on, the brown hen had accepted 
the intruders and settled down for the 
night, and a peaceful quiet rested over the 
place, when David was suddenly startled 
by the sound of a number of horses pound- 
ing steadily along the road that led toward 
the river. He slipped down to the barn 


160 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


floor and pulled the door open a crack and 
looked out. 

A party of a dozen or more horsemen 
were coming briskly forward, and as they 
reached the buildings the foremost drew rein 
and called out: “This is Carter's shack. 
There are plenty of oats and hay in the 
barn, and a chance for a fire in the house. 
We’ll camp here for the night.” 

David’s legs trembled and his breath 
came quickly, but it was not a moment to 
hesitate. Before the party had all dis- 
mounted he had saddled the big horse; and 
just as several of the men approached the 
barn door they started back in amazement 
to see it pushed suddenly back; and, a 
second later, to see the gray horse spring 
out and speed away down the turnpike with 
a boy, half in the saddle, clinging to its neck. 

“A deserter, I’ll bet,” said one of the 
men. 

“We haven’t time to find out,” responded 
another. “We haven’t any use for him, 


THE MAKING OF A HERO 161 


whatever he is. We must get a night’s rest 
before we are captured by the Confederates.” 

The other men laughed at this, for they 
were part of the disloyal regiment, whose 
plot against their country was to be frus- 
trated by the boy riding rapidly toward the 
Union camp. 

All night long the horse went steadily on, 
stopping now and then for a breathing spell, 
when David’s tired eyes would almost shut 
with sleep. It was growing light over the 
low range of hills toward the Alto Pass 
when David came in sight of a group of 
tents and saw a blue-coated sentry watch- 
ing him intently. 

The big gray came to a full stop as the 
sentry approached. David told his message 
briefly, and in a few moments, with a soldier 
on each side of him, he was being led toward 
the camp of the commanding officer. 

“Give my horse a good feed and take 
care of him, will you?” he called back to 
the man who had taken charge of the gray. 


162 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“Sure!” nodded the soldier, with a little 
smile at the boy’s earnestness. “We don’t 
catch a good horse like this every day,” an 
answer that made David uneasy even in his 
gladness at having reached the Union camp 
in safety. 


CHAPTER XIII 


NEWS FROM DAVID 

I T was the fourth day after David’s de- 
parture when Mrs. Freeman and Edith 
were startled by the sound of voices on the 
back porch. Two men, apparently, were 
engaged in a serious discussion as to which 
should enter first. 

“What is it?” exclaimed Edith. 

“Hush,” said Mrs. Freeman. “I will look 
out of the side window and see who it is 
before I go to the door.” She peered out 
of the window, and then turned back to 
Edith with a laugh. “It is Hamilton 
Worthley making believe that he is two 
Indians,” she said, and called out “Come 
right in, Hamilton.” 

“I guess I can’t fool you much, can I?” 
said the boy, as he came into the room; 

163 


164 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“but I fooled a whole bunch of soldiers last 
night and sent them about their business. 
They were a queer kind of soldiers, too,” he 
added. 

“Not Confederates ?” asked Mrs. Free- 
man, anxiously. 

“No,” answered Hamilton, slowly. “I 
guess they were Union men, for they wore 
blue clothes, but they were not the kind of 
Union men that Illinois sends to the War. 
They got to our house near morning, and we 
heard them say that our barns would make 
a first-class bonfire after they’d fed their 
horses and had breakfast, so I just braced 
up and did what I could. I opened our 
front door wide and called out, ‘What regi- 
ment is this?’ just as loud as I could, and 
before they could answer I called in an- 
other voice: ‘Ready with your muskets, 
men, to defend the house and property of a 
Union soldier.’ Well, by that time mother 
had got my rifle and opened the back door 
and fired two shots into the air. I called 


NEWS FROM DAVID 


165 


out again, ‘What regiment is this?’ but the 
men did not stop to answer ; they galloped 
off as fast as they could go.” 

“If they really were Union soldiers, they 
would have answered,” said Mrs. Freeman. 
“You showed a great deal of courage, 
Hamilton. Your mother must be proud of 
you.” 

The boy’s face crimsoned at her praise. 
“Where’s David?” he asked. 

“David has gone to join the army,” said 
Mrs. Freeman, who had resolved not to 
speak of her suspicions. “We are hoping 
soon to have news of him.” 

“I am knitting stockings for him,” said 
Edith, eagerly, holding up the half-finished 
leg of a blue yarn stocking. 

While they were talking there came a 
vigorous rap at the front door, and Mrs. 
Freeman went to answer the summons. In 
a few moments she returned, followed by Mr. 
Jones from The Corners. Mrs. Freeman’s 
face was sunny with smiles, and Mr. Jones 


166 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


came into the room as if he were ready to 
dance with joy. 

“Mr. Jones has brought great news,” she 
said. “Our David has proved himself a 
hero.” 

“And best of all,” said Mr. Jones, “the 
regiment is saved. Their officers have lost 
their shoulder-straps, and will probably be 
saved from court-martial by going into the 
ranks; and the members of the regiment 
are to be scattered into other companies.” 

“What had David to do with it?” in- 
quired Hamilton. 

Then Mr. Jones told the story of starting 
David on his long ride with the message 
that revealed the plot. David had written 
Mrs. Freeman of his reception at the Union 
camp, and of the praise given him by the 
general in command. He had gallantly 
wiped out his fault, and, while it could not 
be forgotten, he was forgiven. He was to 
join his own regiment immediately, and his 
letter was just such a letter as Mrs. Free- 


NEWS FROM DAVID 


167 


man had hoped sometime to receive from 
him. He ended with the request that she 
would send him the little Testament which 
she had given him. 

Mrs. Freeman did not read the letter 
aloud, but told them that David would not 
return at present. Then Edith told Mr. 
Jones of Hamilton’s adventure of the night 
before. 

“Well, well,” exclaimed the storekeeper. 
“You are a hero as well as David, my boy. 
Your place is surely at home when you can 
do such good work as that.” 

Edith listened to him and thought to 
herself that boys had all the chances. She 
would like to do as brave things as David 
and Hamilton had done, but girls could only 
knit stockings, and she regarded the blue 
yarn leg with disapproval. 

“We must start a box for David as soon 
as possible,” said Mrs. Freeman, after her 
visitors had gone. “I am glad you have 
made such a good start on his stockings. 


168 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


I will take up another pair for him, and we 
will manage to make him a nice blue woollen 
shirt.” 

“It must be fine to do things like David 
does,” said Edith. 

“It is fine that he has proved himself 
worthy of his country,” responded Mrs. 
Freeman. “He asked me to send him the 
little Testament,” she added. 

“He used to read in it every day,” said 
Edith. “He said he had never had a Bible 
before. Perhaps if he had had a Bible, he 
would not have run away,” and the little 
girl looked up questioningly in her friend’s 
face. 

“I don’t believe he would, my dear,” 
responded Mrs. Freeman, “for the Bible 
teaches the finest kind of loyalty; and that 
was a lesson that David was ready to learn.” 

As soon as the stockings and shirt were 
finished, a box was started for David, and 
after that the “Edith Austin Academy” be- 
gan work in good earnest. 


NEWS FROM DAVID 


169 


“Did you have any little girls to play with 
when you were about as big as I am?” 
Edith asked one day, as she and Mrs. Free- 
man sat by the western window, busy with 
a large map and a list of important seaports. 

“I guess I did,” said Mrs. Freeman. 
“Why, in our village there were ten girls 
just about my age; and we went to school 
together, and had picnics in summer, and 
went coasting and skating in winter.” 

“You must have had lovely times,” said 
Edith. “I don’t know any little girls 
except Puss and Kitty.” 

“We must ask Puss and Kitty and their 
mother over to spend the day very soon, 
and we will ask Hamilton and his mother; 
it will be a real party, and we must have it 
before you go,” said Mrs. Freeman, “so 
you can tell Eliza about it.” 

“What is a party?” asked Edith. 

“A party is a real good time,” answered 
Mrs. Freeman, “where little girls bring 
their dolls, and play games, and have a very 


170 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


nice tea with preserves and frosted cake 
and hot biscuit and honey.’ ’ 

Edith could hardly sit quiet in her chair 
as she listened to all the good things that 
made up a party. 

The very next day Hamilton rode into 
the yard on his way to The Corners, and 
Mrs. Freeman sent an invitation for Mrs. 
Jones and the two little girls to come over 
the next day and spend the night. Hamil- 
ton was sure that his mother and himself 
could come to dinner and stay until late 
in the afternoon, so Mrs. Freeman and Edith 
began to get ready for their guests. 

“We will have the games in the afternoon 
so Hamilton and his mother can play,” 
said Mrs. Freeman. 

“Do grown people play games?” asked 
Edith. 

“Just wait and see!” replied Mrs. Free- 
man. 

Mrs. Worthley and Hamilton were the 
first to arrive, and soon after Mrs. Jones 


NEWS FROM DAVID 


171 


drove into the yard. Puss and Kitty waved 
their hands to Edith as she came running 
out to meet them. 

After the early dinner was cleared away, 
Mrs. Freeman called the children into the 
big sitting room. 

“Now this is a really, truly party,” she 
said, “and so we must all play games. And 
as I am the youngest person here, except 
Mrs. Worthley and Mrs. Jones, why I sup- 
pose I must tell you what games to play.” 

“Can’t we play some game that you used 
to play when you were a little girl?” asked 
Edith. 

“Indeed we can,” said Mrs. Freeman. 
“Now let’s all stand up and join hands 
and make a circle. And now we must all 
dance round,” and Mrs. Freeman began 
singing: — 

“Here we go round the gooseberry bush, 

The gooseberry bush, the gooseberry bush, 
Here we go round the gooseberry bush, 

So early in the morning.” 


172 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


When they came to a full stop, all were 
laughing heartily. 

“Now you must sing with me and do just 
as I do,” said Mrs. Freeman, and she began 
to sing again, this time rubbing her face with 
her hands. 

“This is the way I wash my face, 

I wash my face, I wash my face, 

This is the way I wash my face, 

So early in the morning.” 

Then they all joined hands again as before, 
singing: — 

“Here we go round the gooseberry bush.” 

At the next stop Mrs. Freeman sang : — 

“This is the way I wash my clothes,” 

illustrating the song by rubbing imaginary 
clothes. 

“I declare,” panted Mrs. Jones, as she 
sank into her chair, “I never expected to 
play that game again.” 

“Let’s play ‘Oats, Peas, Beans, and Bar- 


NEWS FROM DAVID 


173 


ley grow/” said Mrs. Jones; and as Edith 
looked up at the bright-eyed little woman, 
she thought that the twins would look ex- 
actly like their mother when they grew up. 

"Oh, yeth!” exclaimed Puss, eagerly. 
"We play that, don’t we, Kitty?” 

"Then you and Kitty start it,” suggested 
Mrs. Freeman. 

The two little girls stepped out in the 
centre of the room, joined hands, and began 
dancing around and around, singing: — 

“You, nor I, nor nobody knows 
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow.” 

Then, imitating with the right hand the 
motion of sowing seed, they sang, standing 
at ease : — 

“Thus the farmer sows his seeds, 

And then he stands and takes his ease; 
Stamps his foot and claps his hand,” 

and they suited the action to the word, 

“And round he goes to view his land,” 


174 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


and the little girls twirled round so rapidly 
that the smooth black curls seemed to dance 
in the air. 

“ Waiting for a partner, waiting for a partner, 
Choose the one that you love best, 

And then you’ll surely suit the rest,” 

and Kitty ran toward her mother, while 
Puss took Edith by the hand, and the game 
went on until all the little company were 
going “ round to view their land.” 

Hamilton said he wished that they could 
play “Hunt the Squirrel,” but it was de- 
cided that the room was not large enough; 
so Hamilton talked “like an Indian,” to 
the great wonder of the Jones twins. 

After they had rested from the games, 
Mrs. Freeman said that when she was a little 
girl and went to parties they almost always 
made molasses candy; and if the “party” 
would please step into the kitchen, she would 
see if she had forgotten how it was made. 

When they reached the kitchen, Mrs. 


NEWS FROM DAVID 


175 


Freeman gave each of the little girls a ging- 
ham tier, which covered them from neck to 
heels. She tied a big apron around Hamil- 
ton’s neck, and Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Worthley 
also put on aprons. Then a porcelain-lined 
kettle about a third full of molasses was set 
on the kitchen stove. Mrs. Freeman brought 
out a bread board and a pan of flour and 
two white platters. 

“Do you sprinkle in a little soda?” asked 
Mrs. Jones, peering into the kettle, where 
the molasses had already begun to bubble 
and steam. 

“Yes,” said Mrs. Freeman; “it always 
pulls so much better.” 

Edith was sure that nothing had ever 
smelled so good as that bubbling kettle of 
molasses, and as she looked at Puss and Kitty 
and realized that she was really having a 
party, she gave a little skip of pure hap- 
piness; and Puss and Kitty smiled at her 
and skipped too, for they knew that it was 
going to be great fun to pull the candy. 


176 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


The kettle was set on the back porch to 
cool a little, and then the fragrant brown 
mass Was dipped out, still warm, in big spoon- 
fuls on the bread board, where Mrs. Free- 
man cut it in thick strips, sprinkled it with 
flour, and handed it to the others to pull. 

Mrs. Jones proved the most skilful. 
She made beautiful braids of candy. It 
did not seem to stick to her hands as it did 
to Hamilton’s and Edith’s; but the big 
platters were soon covered with yellow 
strips and braids and queer-looking shapes, 
and the candy pull was over. 

Mrs. Jones and the twins were to stay all 
night, but Mrs. Worthley and Hamilton 
had to hurry away before dark. 

“I’ve had a fine time,” said Hamilton. 
“I wish David had been here.” 

“Oh, so do I,” said Edith. “But I 
suppose a hero like David wouldn’t care 
about a party.” 

“I’ll bet he would,” said Hamilton. 

It was early in the evening when Puss and 


NEWS FROM DAVID 


177 


Kitty began to grow sleepy, and Edith went 
upstairs with them to help them get ready 
for bed. She was not at all sleepy herself. 
After her little visitors were sound asleep 
and she was almost ready for bed, she was 
too happy to sleep. She thought how many 
lovely things had happened. First of all, 
the good news about David. Then to know 
two little girls and to have a party and 
play games and make candy. “And it’s 
all because Mrs. Freeman is so good,” the 
little girl thought, as she snuggled down in 
bed. “Oh, I wish, I wish I could do some 
brave thing so Mrs. Freeman would know 
how much I love her ! ” 


CHAPTER XIV 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE BLACK BETTY 

"YTTHEN Mrs. Jones and the twins started 
* * for home the next morning, Edith 
rode a little way down the road with them, 
and promised that after her visit to her sister 
she would come and see them. 

“We will have a party, too,” Mrs. Jones 
said, as Edith got down from the carriage 
and bade them all good-by. When she got 
back to the house, she could not find Mrs. 
Freeman, so she went across the yard to the 
stable. Mrs. Freeman was putting her saddle 
on Black Betty. 

“I am going to have you learn to ride 
Betty,” Mrs. Freeman said, as the little 
girl came in the stable door. “If you could 
ride Betty, I could send you on errands to 
The Corners, and I think the exercise will 
be good for you.” 


178 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE 179 


“Oh, goody !” said Edith; “and if Con- 
federates come, I could ride after Hamilton.” 

Mrs. Freeman laughed. “I guess you 
will be more apt to ride after a package of 
pepper,” she said. “I am going to have you 
sit ’cross saddle; it is the only safe way to 
ride. Just step up on that box, Edith, and 
sit in the saddle just as Hamilton does. 
Now hold your reins this way, and remember 
if you hit your heels against Betty, she will 
think that you want her to go fast, and off 
she will start at her best speed. I will lead 
her out of the stable and around the yard.” 

Edith was not at all afraid and was de- 
lighted to learn to ride. After leading Betty 
around the yard once, Mrs. Freeman said, 
“Now ride round by yourself;” and Betty 
marched slowly around, with Edith holding 
the reins carefully and smiling with hap- 
piness. 

“I guess Hamilton will be s’prised when 
he sees that I can ride horseback,” she said, 
when Mrs. Freeman lifted her down. 


180 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


The next morning Edith was ready for a 
second lesson, and this time she ventured to 
touch her heels lightly against Betty’s 
shining sides. The big horse responded 
instantly, and Edith was carried swiftly 
around the yard. This morning she rode 
down the road a little way, turned Betty, 
and came back quite like an experienced 
horsewoman, and much to the satisfaction 
of Mrs. Freeman. 

“I want to teach you to do all the things 
that you ought to do, and that you will 
enjoy doing,” she said to Edith. “If you 
live with me until you are a woman, you 
will be healthy, fearless, and wise, if I can 
help make you so.” 

Edith did not make any response for a 
moment, then she said thoughtfully, “I 
guess there isn’t anything to be afraid of, 
if you only think right, is there?” 

Mrs. Freeman answered quietly, “That’s 
the very heart of courage, my dear. Al- 
ways be ready to do the right thing, as 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE 181 


it seems right to you, and fear will not 
show its head.” 

“ Confederates must be scared all the 
time,” said the little girl, as they walked 
toward the house. 

Mrs. Freeman laughed. “No, indeed, for 
the worst part of the War is that many of 
the Confederates are sure they are right!” 

“0 dear!” said Edith. “It’s dreadful 
hard to be sure about what is right.” 

“Well, this morning it is right for us to 
bring in the pumpkins and squash,” said 
Mrs. Freeman, “and after that I guess we’ll 
have to shell beans for an hour or two ; and 
then the ‘ Edith Austin Academy’ gives a 
course in grammar, and then — ” but the 
sober look had vanished from Edith’s face, 
and she skipped along by Mrs. Freeman’s 
side. 

“And I guess dinner comes in there some- 
where,” she said. 

“0 dear!” said Mrs. Freeman, “and a 
boiled dinner at that, with pumpkin pie!” 


182 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


That evening, just before Edith went up- 
stairs, Mrs. Freeman said, “I suppose, my 
dear child, that we must make our plans 
for you to visit your sister very soon, before 
the cold weather comes on; but it makes 
me lonesome to think of it.” 

“Don’t you want me to go?” asked Edith. 

“I shall miss you dreadfully,” said Mrs. 
Freeman. 

“Oh, that’s lovely!” said Edith; “I guess 
nobody ever missed me. You see Eliza 
couldn’t really afford to have me; she used 
to say so. If you will be lonesome, I won’t 
go.” 

“Yes,” said Mrs. Freeman, “I know it 
will make Eliza happy to have a visit from 
you, so I want you to go. But only for 
two weeks; then you will be home by Hal- 
lowe’en.” 

Edith looked up questioningly, for “Hal- 
lowe’en” was a new word to her. 

“Why, I believe you do not know about 
Hallowe’en!” said Mrs. Freeman. “Come 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE 183 


right over here and sit in my lap while I 
tell you about it, and about what I used to 
do on Hallowe’en nights.” 

Edith was soon comfortably established, 
with Mrs. Freeman’s arm about her. The 
fire burned brightly, and a warm sense of 
love and happiness seemed to come into 
Edith’s lonely heart. 

“ Hallowe’en is the very last night of 
October,” began Mrs. Freeman, “and if 
you ever have a Hallowe’en party, as I used 
to have, you must be sure to ask the fairies 
to come. Just before Hallowe’en the fairies 
are always on the lookout for invitations. 
The best way to invite them is to braid three 
rings of sweet grass and hang them on the 
outside of a window. You must hang the 
rings out at least two days before Hallowe’en, 
and you must put a wish inside of each ring, 
and be very careful not to look at the rings 
until the day after Hallowe’en.” 

“And then what do you find?” asked 
Edith, eagerly. 


184 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“Oh, you find the rings all safe, and be- 
fore the year, people say who know all about 
fairy rings, your wishes will come true. 
Then there was a game we used to play with 
a string. Each one of us would take a long 
piece of twine, and we would all sit about 
the room in a circle. Then, at a signal from 
one of the party, we would each one begin 
to tie knots in our piece of twine, each of 
us repeating this verse aloud: — 

“ This knot I knit, 

This knot I spin, 

To safely keep 
My wish within. 

This knot I knot 
That you may see, 

I knit not yet 
My wish to me, 

and you must not stop tying the string while 
you repeat the verse. Then you must tie 
the string to your bedpost, and whatever 
you dream will come to pass.” 

Edith gave a doubtful little giggle as she 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE 185 


snuggled her head against Mrs. Freeman's 
shoulder. 

“What!” exclaimed Mrs. Freeman, as if 
surprised. “Don’t you believe in Hallow- 
e’en wishes coming true ? Well, there 
are Hallowe’en cakes that I know are true, 
big, beautiful, round cakes. And in a truly 
Hallowe’en cake there is a gold ring, a 
button, and a thimble !” 

“Oh!” exclaimed Edith. 

“Yes, indeedy! And when the cake is 
cut in slices, the girl or boy who gets the 
slice with the gold ring in it is sure to grow 
up wise and good, and marry his own true 
love. And the girl who gets the slice with 
the button in it will be a thrifty and happy 
old maid ; and the boy who gets the thimble 
will be a poor, unfortunate old bachelor.” 

“Then I had better go and see Eliza and 
come home before Hallowe’en?” asked 
Edith. 

“I really think that is what we must make 
up our minds to,” said Mrs. Freeman, “and 


186 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


we will plan to have a Hallowe’en cake 
when you get home. But there shan’t be 
a button or a thimble in it, only a beautiful 
gold ring.” 

“And that slice shall be for you,” said 
Edith. 

“Now I have a beautiful plan,” said Mrs. 
Freeman. “I am going to let you ride 
Black Betty to your sister’s. I cannot 
leave home to go with you, but I am going 
to ask Hamilton Worthley to go with you. 
It is not a long ride, and Hamilton can bring 
Betty home, as I could not do without her. 
Then when the day comes for you to come 
home Hamilton will come after you.” 

“You think of lovely things,” said Edith, 
putting her arms around Mrs. Freeman’s 
neck. “I guess the fairies will be sure to 
answer your wishes.” 

The fire had begun to smoulder and die 
down, so Mrs. Freeman and Edith said good 
night. Edith was wondering what Eliza 
would say when she came riding up on big 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE 187 


Black Betty. She felt a little eager now 
for the time of her visit to arrive. “I wish 
I could take you, Tinkletoes,” she said, as 
she carried the kitten upstairs to its usual 
resting place at the foot of her bed. “I 
know Eliza would like to see you.” Tinkle- 
toes purred vigorously as if to say that he 
was quite sure of it. “But Mrs. Freeman 
will want you to stay at home with her for 
company,” concluded the little girl, as she 
put the kitten carefully down on the cushion 
at the foot of her bed. 

When Edith came downstairs the next 
morning, Hamilton was in the kitchen talk- 
ing to Mrs. Freeman. 

“Do you remember that nice brown dog 
you saw, coming home from the pond?” he 
asked. 

“Oh, yes,” answered Edith. “Have you 
seen him again?” 

“No,” replied Hamilton; “but the family 
who live beyond us have missed two nice 
fat pigs within the last month, and they sus- 


188 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


pected there was a bear around and set a 
trap for him; and yesterday Mr. Bruin 
walked right into it, and now that family 
is eating bear steak.” 

“Then they got their two fat pigs back, 
didn’t they?” said Edith, at which Mrs. 
Freeman and Hamilton both laughed. 

“Hamilton has brought us a very nice 
invitation,” said Mrs. Freeman. “His 
mother wants us to come to her house on 
Tuesday to dinner, and Hamilton is going 
over to The Corners to ask Mrs. Jones and 
Puss and Kitty.” 

“I wish David was here to go, too,” said 
Edith. 

“We will plan something nice for David 
when he does come,” said Mrs. Freeman. 
Promising Hamilton that they would start 
for his house in good season on Tuesday 
morning, they bade him good-by and 
watched him ride off towards The Corners. 

“Do you suppose Puss could be cured of 
lisping?” Edith asked. 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE 189 


Mrs. Freeman laughed. “Why, what 
made you think of that just now?” she re- 
sponded. 

“Well, you were telling us about the man 
who lived so long ago, who cured himself of 
stuttering,” said Edith, “and I thought 
perhaps Puss could.” 

“Perhaps she could,” replied Mrs. Free- 
man. 

Edith smiled happily. “I guess I’d better 
tell her about that man who cured himself,” 
she said. 

“I am glad enough to hear that that bear 
is disposed of,” said Mrs. Freeman. “I 
felt anxious ever since we were at the pond, 
but now we can come and go in safety.” 

On Tuesday morning Mrs. Jones and the 
twins drove into the yard. Mrs. Freeman 
and Edith were to ride with them. 

“We seem to have parties and picnics 
all the time,” said Mrs. Jones, as Edith 
climbed into the back seat of the carryall 
beside the twins. “I only wish all our sol- 


190 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


dier boys were safe at home to enjoy them 
with us.” 

“It won’t be very long, I hope,” replied 
Mrs. Freeman. 

‘ ‘ Do you thuppothe we will play gameth ? ” 
asked Puss. 

“I know we will,” said Kitty, “for once 
before we went to Mrs. Worthley’s, and 
we played blindman’s-buff, in the big room 
where the loom is.” 

“Goody!” said Puss. 

“Something happened at our house last 
night,” said Kitty. 

“What?” asked Edith. 

“Well,” said Kitty, settling herself more 
comfortably and leaning back, “what do 
you think ! My father shot a fox ! ” 

“Oh!” said Edith. 

“It wath a bad fox,” said Puss reassur- 
ingly, for Edith’s tone had been almost 
accusing. 

“Yes, indeed!” said Kitty. “It had 
carried off our nice little chickens.” 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE 191 


“Was it a reddish-yellow fox with bright 
eyes?” asked Edith. 

The twins both nodded cheerfully. * ' Yeth, 
it wath,” said Puss. 

“0 dear!” said Edith, “that fox didn't 
know that it was wrong to kill people's 
chickens.” 

“Its skin will make a lovely rug,” said 
Kitty, looking at Edith with surprise. 

“You children can go right in the shed- 
room and play,” said Mrs. Worthley, when 
they had taken off their hats. “Hamilton 
has some new games to show you.” 

The little girls went out into the big, 
pleasant room. The maltese cat got out 
of her basket and looked at them wonder- 
ingly, and Tinkletoes' brother came jump- 
ing toward them. 

“I guess they want to hear about Tinkle- 
toes,” said Edith, so she lifted up the kitten 
and said: “Your little brother is real well. 
He is shut up in the shed to-day, but he has 
two big saucers of milk and one of water, 


192 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


and if he had known where we were coming, 
he would have sent his love.” 

This made the twins laugh. “Cats don’t 
know what you say,” said Kitty. 

“Tinkletoes does,” said Edith. In a few 
minutes Hamilton came out. 

“Do you want to see me play circus?” 
he asked. 

“You don’t know how,” said Kitty, who 
wondered to herself what kind of a game 
“circus” was. 

“Yes, I do,” replied Hamilton. “Look 
up there,” and he pointed toward the ceil- 
ing, where suspended from the stout beams 
was a sort of trapeze, two ropes of equal 
length united by a horizontal bar. 

“Ith that a thircuth?” asked Puss. 

“It’s a part of a circus. I can do tricks 
on that bar,” said Hamilton, “you just 
watch me;” and walking slowly to the 
further end of the room, he removed his 
jacket, rubbed his hands vigorously to- 
gether, and then made a running leap 


EDITH LEARNS TO RIDE 193 


toward the bar, which he caught hold of 
with both hands. 

The little girls drew close up to the wall, 
the cat and the kitten scuttled under the 
old loom, and Hamilton began to play circus. 
He swung from the bar by one hand, then 
he drew himself up and sat on the bar, 
swinging rapidly back and forth; and then, 
wonder of wonders, he carefully lowered 
himself and actually hung suspended by his 
feet ! 

The little girls watched him in admiring 
suspense, and when he swung himself lightly 
to the floor and said, “ There ! that is play- 
ing circus !” none of them had a word to say. 
It seemed to Edith that Hamilton was 
the most remarkable boy that ever was. 
“ That's most as queer as being a ven-tril- 
o-quist,” she thought. The cat and kitten 
came out from under the loom, and just then 
Mrs. Worthley called them to dinner. 


CHAPTER XV 


A CHARADE PARTY 

I T was the week after Mrs. Worthley’s 
party, and Kitty and Puss were playing 
in the attic when Puss said : — 

“Why don’t we have a party?” 
“Because,” answered Kitty slowly, “we 
haven’t anything new to do at a party. We 
played all the games at Mrs. Freeman’s, and 
we made molasses candy, and at Hamilton’s 
house we watched him do circus tricks.” 

“0 dear!” sighed Puss. “I with we 
could have a party. Don’t you think 
mother knowth thomething we could play 
at a party?” 

“Perhaps she does,” answered Kitty hope- 
fully, and the two scampered downstairs 
in search of their mother. 

“We want to have a party,” said Kitty, 

194 


A CHARADE PARTY 


195 


eagerly. “It’s our turn now, mother, and 
we do want to have something different 
from Edith’s or Hamilton’s.” 

“Well,” replied Mrs. Jones, “you just 
run over to the store and ask your father 
about it. I wouldn’t wonder a bit if he knew 
some lovely games that you never heard of 
before.” 

So Kitty and Puss ran across the street 
and found their father standing in the store 
door. 

“Oh, father!” said Puss. “We want to 
have a party.” 

“Yes,” said Kitty, “and mother said 
perhaps you could tell us some lovely new 
games to play !” 

Mr. Jones smiled at their eagerness, and 
then looked very serious indeed. 

“There isn’t any such thing as new games,” 
he said. “When I was a little boy my 
grandmother taught me the games she played 
when she was a little girl, and her grand- 
mother taught her those very same games.” 


196 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“0 dear,” said Puss, feeling sure that she 
could not have a party. But Kitty was 
more hopeful. 

“What were some of the old games?” 
she asked. 

Mr. Jones rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 
“Let me see,” he said. “When I was about 
your age I used to play Charades.” 

“Why!” exclaimed Puss, “thath a new 
game. What ith it?” 

“Well,” said her father, “I suppose it’s 
a sort of riddle. Take a word or a name, 
and do not tell what it is, but try to make 
a picture of it for others to see, and then 
ask them to guess the word.” 

“I gueth I don’t like that game,” said 
Puss, and Kitty looked so puzzled that her 
father laughed and said: “Well, we’ll have 
a charade right now, and then if you don’t 
like it, we will have to think up some other 
game. Puss, you must help me, and Kitty 
can be the party and guess the charade.” 

So Puss and her father went just inside 


A CHARADE PARTY 


197 


the store door and, after a good deal of 
whispering, Puss came out with a small 
lamp in her hand, and in a moment her 
father followed, struck a match, and then 
lighted the lamp. 

“Now, what word have we made a picture 
of?” asked Mr. Jones. 

“Lamps and matches,” answered Kitty. 

“No! No!” said Puss. 

“Well,” said Mr. Jones, “when I strike 
a match what do I make?” 

“A blaze,” answered Kitty. 

“Not always,” replied Mr. Jones. “Now 
this time I made a light.” 

“Lamplight!” exclaimed Kitty trium- 
phantly, and then she was eager to take part 
in a charade herself, and Mr. Jones had a 
busy morning. 

“Now we can have a lovely party,” said 
both the little girls when they w T ent home 
to dinner; “can’t we have it soon, mother?” 

Mrs. Jones promised to send word to 
Mrs. Freeman and to Mrs, Worthley at the 


198 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


first opportunity, and in a few days they had 
received their invitations to come to The 
Corners to a “ Charade Party.” 

“I have thought of a lovely charade,” 
said Kitty, the day of the party, “and Puss 
and I are going to do it. It's something 
nobody at the party except Puss and I could 
do.” 

“I think I will make some hearts and 
rounds,” said Mrs. Jones. 

“Oh, goody!” said Puss, for hearts and 
rounds were the richest and sweetest of 
pound cake, cooked in tiny round tins and 
in little heart-shaped tins, and both the 
little girls thought there was nothing that 
tasted so good. 

Edith wondered what a charade party 
would be like, and when Mrs. Freeman ex- 
plained the meaning of charade, she was sure 
that it would be the nicest kind of a good 
time. 

The guests arrived in season for dinner, 
for both Mrs. Worthley and Mrs. Freeman 


A CHARADE PARTY 


199 


felt anxious to reach their homes before 
nightfall, so the games were planned to come 
early in the afternoon. 

Mr. Jones had made a little platform 
at one end of the sitting room, and on this 
the charades were to be given. The first 
one was “Lamplight,” as Mr. Jones thought 
that an easy word to guess, and Mrs. Free- 
man guessed it at once. 

Then Mr. Jones said, “The next charade 
is the first name of the greatest man in this 
country.” 

Then he pinned a big “A” on the wall. 

“That’s the first syllable,” whispered 
Kitty, who sat close by Edith. Then 
Mr. Jones made a strange noise which 
caused the whole company to laugh, and 
which he explained was the way a donkey 
talked. 

“And that’s the second syllable,” said 
Kitty. 

Then Mr. Jones brought an entire ham 
into the sitting-room and put it upon the 


200 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


table. “And that is the third and last 
syllable," he said. 

“I know," said Hamilton. “It's the 
President's name, Abraham." 

There were a number of words pictured, 
all of which were easily guessed, and then 
Mr. Jones said; “Now, Kitty, we are ready 
for yours." 

Kitty smiled at Puss, and the two little 
girls went up on the platform and stood, 
hand in hand, smiling down at their friends 
and looking exactly alike. 

“Twins, of course," said Hamilton, and 
the rest of the party echoed his “of course." 

“I think that your charade was the very 
best one of all, Kitty," said Edith; “and I 
think it is a lovely party." 

Then Mrs. Jones brought in a big plate 
of the hearts and rounds, all nicely frosted, 
and Edith looked at them admiringly. She 
told Kitty and Puss that she was going 
to visit her sister very soon. “I am going 
to ride horseback," she said. The twins 


A CHARADE PARTY 


201 


thought it would be a great adventure to 
take so long a journey on horseback, and 
Edith promised to tell them all about it 
when she returned. 

“Oh, Kitty !” she whispered, as she bade 
her little friends good-by; “when I get 
home from Eliza’s I can cure Puss of lisp- 
ing if you want me to.” But Kitty was 
not paying strict attention to what Edith 
was saying just then, for her father was 
handing each one of the guests a little square 
package, saying as he gave it : — 

“Here is the last charade of all; it’s only 
one word, and you will guess it as soon as 
you open the package, which you mustn’t 
do until you are at home.” 

“Oh, what is it, father?” asked Kitty. 

“Why, you and Puss will have to guess, 
too,” he said, handing each of them a box. 
“And you must not open your packages 
until supper time.” 

As Hamilton drove past Mr. Jones’s store, 
Mrs. Freeman touched the boy’s arm, and 


202 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


pointed to the tall flagpole where the Stars 
and Stripes floated, and the boy took off 
his cap. “I always feel like cheering, 
whenever I see that flag,” he said. 

“Of course you do,” responded Mrs. 
Freeman. “That’s the way all good sol- 
diers feel.” 

“I’d like to be with David,” answered 
the boy. “Of course he’s older, but he isn’t 
much bigger.” 

“We couldn’t get along without you, 
Hamilton,” said his mother, from the back 
seat. 

“Indeed we couldn’t!” said Mrs Freeman. 
Then they all wondered what the charade 
was that they were taking home in the 
package. 

It was nearly dusk when the Worthleys 
said good-by to Mrs. Freeman and Edith, 
and by the time the fire was started and 
Black Betty and Posy given their supper, 
it was lamplight. 

“Now is the time to guess our charades,” 


A CHARADE PARTY 


203 


said Mrs. Freeman. “You give the first 
guess, Edith.” 

“I guess ‘ candy’ !” said Edith. 

“Why, so do I!” said Mrs. Freeman, 
laughingly, and then they both untied the 
little packages, and, sure enough, inside 
were peppermints, and lemon-drops, and 
big round candy gooseberries. 

“Oh!” said Edith, happily. “This is 
almost as good as another party. Don’t 
we have lovely times, Mrs. Freeman?” 

“Indeed we do!” was the answer. 

“I shall have so many things to tell Eliza,” 
said Edith, with a little sigh of content. 


CHAPTER XVI 


edith’s journey 

TT AMILTON had agreed to escort Edith 
to her sister’s, and looked forward to 
the journey. The day set was just after 
the party at Mrs. Jones’s. Mrs. Freeman 
had told Hamilton to be ready for an early 
start, and the sun was just creeping into 
sight when he arrived. 

Both horses were good travellers, and 
Hamilton planned to reach Eliza’s long before 
noon, and give his horse a good rest before 
starting for home. 

The morning decided upon proved crisp 
and chilly. The fences were white with 
frost, and the sun was not fully up when 
Hamilton rode into the yard. Black Betty 
was all saddled and bridled, and Edith’s 
valise was firmly tied on the back of 

204 


EDITH'S JOURNEY 


205 


the saddle. Mrs. Freeman had made her 
a divided skirt, which with high-laced 
boots, neat jacket, and pretty red hood, 
made Edith a very trig little figure as she 
mounted Black Betty all ready for the 
start. 

Hamilton knew the road well; he was 
acquainted with the ferry where they would 
cross, and Mrs. Freeman felt sure that they 
would reach their destination safely. 

“In just two weeks from to-day I will be 
coming home," said Edith, as she bade Mrs. 
Freeman good-by. They started off at a 
brisk canter. “Edith is a dear child," 
she thought, as the turned back to the house, 
“and I believe she would do anything for 
me." 

They had gone but a short distance when 
a small gray figure sprang out from the grass 
near the roadway, and bounded danger- 
ously near to Black Betty's feet. 

“Oh!" exclaimed Edith. “If here isn't 
Tinkletoes! What will I do with him?" 


206 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“Why don’t you take him along to your 
sister’s?” said Hamilton. 

“How can I?” asked Edith, stopping her 
horse and looking anxiously down at the 
kitten. “It’s too far for him to walk, and 
I can’t hold him all the way.” 

“I know how to carry him,” said Hamil- 
ton. “I’ve got some fishline in my 
pocket, and I can knot a sort of bag and 
put him in it so we can carry him 
first-rate.” 

Hamilton dismounted, produced the cord 
from his pocket, and in a short time had made 
a knotted bag that would hold Tinkletoes 
fairly well. He put the kitten in, and Edith 
fixed it as comfortably as possible on the 
saddle in front of her; and it was not long 
before Tinkletoes adapted himself to his 
new position, although now and then he 
mewed plaintively. 

“I think it was fine of Mrs. Freeman to 
give me this chance to go over the river,” 
said Hamilton. “Perhaps we may meet 


EDITH'S JOURNEY 207 

some of the soldiers after we get on the Mis- 
souri side." 

“You could frighten them away," said 
Edith. 

“Oh, I guess it would only be some of our 
own soldiers. See that jack-rabbit!" and 
Edith looked just in time to catch a glimpse 
of a gray streak sailing over a fence. “That 
was a dandy jump!" said the boy, admir- 
ingly. “I wish I’d brought my rifle along, 
for we’ll be apt to see a coyote or two before 
we get to the river." 

The road was shaded here and there by 
big cottonwoods, and now and then a flurry 
of wind would bring the leaves dancing 
about them. The horses were fresh and 
in good spirits, and raced smoothly along 
over the pleasant road. Edith’s cheeks 
began to grow red with the air and exercise, 
and she was sure that it was the most de- 
lightful journey possible, to ride Black Betty 
all the way to her sister’s home. 

When they came to a slight rise of 


208 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


ground, Hamilton drew rein and rose in 
his saddle. 

“What is it?” asked Edith, bringing 
Black Betty to a standstill. 

“Why!” answered Hamilton, “I can’t 
see Mr. Jones’s flag at The Corners. I have 
always stopped here to look at it, but now 
it’s gone. I’ll bet somebody has tried to 
cut down his flagpole.” 

“Oh, no! I can see it. Look!” and 
Edith pointed a little to the right. 

“Hurrah!” cried Hamilton, lifting his 
cap as he caught sight of the distant flutter 
of the flag. “I tell you it always makes me 
feel good when I see Mr. Jones’s flag flying. 
That’s the highest point in this part of the 
State, and I’ll bet more than one rebel over 
in Missouri has got a glimpse of the Stars 
and Stripes. They’ve tried to haul it down, 
too, but Mr. Jones is ready for any old 
copperhead who tries that on.” 

“Are there rebels in Missouri?” ques- 
tioned Edith. 


EDITH’S JOURNEY 


209 


“Well, I guess there are !” answered Ham- 
ilton. “And they would like to get hold 
of Illinois if they could, but we stand by the 
flag.” 

“Oh, look at that!” exclaimed Edith, 
for directly in front of them, and almost 
under their horses’ feet, was a mother grouse 
with her half-grown brood, scurrying across 
the road. 

As they neared the river another jack- 
rabbit appeared, and went down the road 
in front of them in long, flying leaps. Edith 
pressed her heels against Black Betty’s 
sides, and in an instant was flying after it. 
Hamilton joined in the chase. The rabbit, in 
one of its long leaps, turned its head as if to 
see what was coming after it, and then turned 
in its course and fled over the brown fields. 

“Say, I forgot all about the kitten!” 
said Hamilton, as they rode on more slowly. 
“Did it stay on all right?” 

“Yes,” laughed Edith. “It stuck its 
claws right into the saddle and hung on.” 


210 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“Good for Tinkletoes! He’ll make a 
trained cat yet. Say, aren’t you hungry, 
Edith?” 

“Why, I guess I am,” said Edith; “but 
we’ve had such a good time I forgot about 
it.” 

“Mrs. Freeman gave me this box of 
lunch,” Hamilton said, pointing to a pack- 
age tied to his saddle. “Let’s stop and eat 
it before we get to the river.” 

They stopped near a convenient fence and 
dismounted, much to Tinkletoes’ satis- 
faction. Edith was sure Black Betty did 
not need fastening, but Hamilton said that 
it never was safe to take chances on a 
journey. So he loosened the horse’s bridle 
reins and fastened them to the fence. Edith 
untied the box, and the children sat down to 
eat their lunch. There were two mince 
turnovers, which Hamilton eyed with ap- 
proval, a number of squares of spicy ginger- 
bread, and some bread and butter. It 
did not take them long to finish their 


EDITH'S JOURNEY 211 

lunch, and now they were eager to reach 
the ferry. 

Hamilton carefully led the way down the 
somewhat slippery bank to the river, and 
blew the horn for the ferryman. In a few 
moments they saw the big flatboat starting 
out from the opposite shore. The ferry- 
man and Hamilton were well acquainted, 
and Hamilton told him that he would be 
back in an hour or two, after he had taken 
Edith safely to her sister's. 

“I guess Eliza will be surprised to see 
me come riding up," said Edith, as they 
came in sight of the low, shabby house where 
the Stones lived. 

“And I guess she will be surprised to see 
Tinkletoes," said Hamilton. 

Mrs. Stone came round the corner of the 
house and stood looking down the road. 
She was watching Hamilton and Edith, and 
thinking what a pretty picture they made as 
they came swiftly forward. 

“My soul!" she exclaimed, as they came 


212 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


nearer. “If it isn’t Edith!” and she 
hurried down to the road to meet them. 

“Oh, Eliza !” called Edith, bringing Betty 
to a full stop and almost falling in her eager- 
ness to get to her sister. The little girl 
clung round the woman’s neck, and for a 
moment forgot all about her kitten. Hamil- 
ton looked at them in surprise. 

“I’m so glad! so glad to see you, dear 
Eliza!” said Edith. 

“Are you now, honey!” responded the 
woman, smiling happily down at the little 
girl. “Well, I sort of thought you’d forget 
all about your old sister, living in Mrs. 
Freeman’s nice house so long; but I’m real 
glad to see you.” 

Tinkletoes now began to scramble about 
on the saddle, and Hamilton lifted him 
down and set him free from the clumsy 
net, while Edith explained how the kitten 
had followed her. 

“You tell Mrs. Freeman about Tinkletoes, 
won’t you, Hamilton?” Edith said, when 


EDITH'S JOURNEY 


213 


the boy was ready to start for home, leading 
Black Betty. 

The boy nodded smilingly. “Yes,” he 
answered; “and I'll come after you two 
weeks from to-day.” 

“I have a present for you, Eliza,” Edith 
said when she unpacked her bag. “I made 
it all myself,” and she handed Eliza a neat 
little package. 

Eliza's face brightened. “Well, honey,” 
she said, “I haven't had a present before for 
ten years,” and she undid the paper. In- 
side was a pretty white apron, with a flounce 
on the bottom, and wide strings. 

“There, that is a beauty!” said Eliza; 
and she admired the stitches and praised 
the gift until Edith felt sure that she had 
given her just what Eliza most wanted. 

Mr. Stone was away, Eliza said, and 
would not be at home until the next night. 

Edith did not mind, it was Eliza she 
wanted to see ; and she had so many things 
to tell her about Grace, about the little 


214 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Jones girls, and about all that she was 
learning, that night came only too quickly. 
The little house had only three rooms, the 
'kitchen and two bedrooms. There were no 
doors between the sleeping rooms and the 
kitchen, only curtains of calico. 

“Eliza,” Edith said, as she went into her 
little room, with Tinkletoes in her arms, 
“wouldn’t it be lovely if you lived at Mrs. 
Freeman’s too! If you did, I should be 
perfectly happy.” 

“Well, honey, I’m mighty glad you don’t 
forget me,” answered Eliza from the kitchen. 

“Mrs. Freeman is so good, Eliza,” con- 
tinued the little girl. “Do you s’pose I can 
ever do anything to show her how much I 
love her?” 

“I shouldn’t wonder if you could,” said 
Eliza; “but now you go right to sleep.” 

The next morning Edith told her sister 
about David, and his ride to the Union 
camp. 

“Don’t you say anything about it before 


EDITH'S JOURNEY 


215 


Sam/' said Eliza. “Sam has got into bad 
company. He's a good Union man under- 
neath, but just now some Confederates have 
got hold of him, and he's off with them 
now." 

“Oh, Eliza!" exclaimed Edith. “What 
will you do? Isn’t it awful!" 

“There isn't much I can do, little sister," 
said Eliza, “only just pray that he'll come 
to his senses. It means a lot to me to 
have you come just now. I was feeling 
pretty lonesome." 

Edith was conscious of a new affection 
for her sister. She remembered how pleas- 
ant Eliza had always been, how uncom- 
plaining, and she made a new resolve. 
After this, she thought, she would try to 
make Eliza happy. 

“I guess saying prayers does good," she 
responded encouragingly. “Mrs. Freeman 
says them for the Captain, and she says 
them for David, too. So, if you keep say- 
ing them for Sam, I guess it will help." 


216 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


A little smile crept round Eliza’s thin 
lips. “What will you do all the days here, 
honey,” she said, “without any lessons or 
anything to do? You’ll be getting lone- 
some.” 

“Oh, no, Eliza. I’m so glad to see you 
and be right side of you and tell you things. 
And then Tinkletoes is here, too.” 

The day passed very quickly and again 
Edith was in the little bedroom ready to go 
to sleep. 

“Sam will be coming in late to-night, 
honey,” said her sister, “so don’t you be 
afraid if you hear him in the kitchen, but 
just shut your eyes and keep quiet.” 

“Yes,” answered Edith, half asleep. 

It was several hours later when she was 
suddenly awakened by the sound of voices. 
She could hear her brother-in-law’s voice 
and those of several other men. Lying be- 
hind the calico curtain, Edith could hear the 
strange conversation from the men in the 
outer room. She listened fearfully, and 


EDITH'S JOURNEY 


217 


heard them say that a band of Confederates 
were even then gathered under the cliffs back 
from the river, and were to be sent across 
the Mississippi to make a raid on southern 
Illinois. 

Edith overheard that a detachment of 
Prince's men on the east, and some of 
Kirby Smith's from Kentucky, were to enter 
Illinois at the same time, and try to reach 
and hold Jonesboro, thirty miles above 
Cairo, destroy the railroads, and burn the 
homes of all Union people whose names 
they had obtained from Southern sym- 
pathizers. 

Edith hardly dared to listen to more. 
This meant, she well knew, that Mrs. Free- 
man's home was in danger. Even now 
these men might be on their way to burn 
and destroy. Somehow she must get to 
Mrs. Freeman and warn her. She slipped 
out of bed and dressed, putting on her stout 
shoes and riding skirt. The men in the 
kitchen did not notice the slight noise she 


218 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


made. When she was all ready, she sat on 
the edge of the bed, holding the kitten, and 
wondering how she could get out of the 
house. 

But fortune favored her. In a short 
time Sam’s companions said they must be 
moving on, and Sam went outdoors with 
them. This was Edith’s chance. She 
slipped into Eliza’s room and found her 
sister awake. In a hurried whisper the 
child told her plan, and Eliza listened and 
half-tear fully agreed; and the little girl 
slipped out of the house and was speeding 
down the road to the river before Sam had 
returned to the kitchen. It was dark and 
Edith stumbled over the rough road, but she 
did not falter. She wondered what the 
ferryman would say when she asked him 
to set her across. 

It was nearly daylight when she rapped 
at his door. “Well!” he exclaimed, when 
she said that she wanted to cross the river. 
“Got homesick so soon, have you? You 



















She realized that there was a walk of nearly twenty 

MILES BEFORE HER. — Page 219 . 







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EDITH’S JOURNEY 


219 


and that kitten are too young to be away 
from home long, I guess.” 

He rowed her across in a small boat, and 
as Edith went up the rough road from the 
river she realized that there was a walk of 
nearly twenty miles before her. The morn- 
ing was cool, the sun was not yet up, and 
Edith walked briskly on. She wanted to 
run, but realized that she must not. She 
thought of David’s ride to save the regi- 
ment; perhaps what she was doing would 
save Mrs. Freeman’s home, and Mrs. Free- 
man would know just what to do when she 
told her what she had heard. 

But as she plodded on a new fear assailed 
her. Suppose those men in hiding were 
already on their way to carry out their 
wicked plans. The tears rolled down the 
little girl’s cheeks at the thought. On and 
on she walked. The sun showed her that 
the morning was rapidly advancing. Several 
times she hid behind fences or trees to es- 
cape the questions of travellers whom she 


220 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


saw in the distance; then when they had 
passed, she started on. Now and then she 
would let Tinkletoes run beside her. 

Noon found her with her journey hardly 
half finished, and with aching feet and 
arms. But she did not stop to rest. It 
was nearly dusk when the child came in 
sight of the Freeman house. Tired out, she 
crawled up the steps and opened the kitchen 
door. 

“ Edith!” exclaimed Mrs. Freeman, 
springing forward toward the exhausted 
child. 

Edith gasped out her story, and Mrs. Free- 
man listened earnestly. 

“Then there is not a moment to lose,” 
said the courageous woman. “I must ride 
to Jonesboro to-night. Edith, you are a 
heroine! You have saved my home, and 
far more than that, for you may have saved 
the State.” 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE INVASION OF ILLINOIS 

ll/TRS. FREEMAN realized that there 
“**"-*■ was no time to lose, but she helped 
Edith undress and gave her a bowl of warm 
bread and milk. The little girl was com- 
pletely exhausted, and the soft bed seemed 
the best place in the world. Tinkletoes 
followed her upstairs and curled up on the 
bed, purring happily. 

“ Edith, you have done me the greatest 
service any one could do,” said Mrs. Free- 
man, “and now you must help me still 
more. I am going to ride Black Betty to 
Jonesboro and leave you here alone. I shall 
come back as soon as I can, but until I 
come you must stay here and take care of 
the place. Do you think you can?” 

“Yes’m,” said Edith. 

221 


222 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“You have been a perfect blessing,” said 
Mrs. Freeman, leaning over to kiss the 
flushed face. 

“A perfect blessing,” Edith whispered 
happily to herself and in a moment was fast 
asleep. 

Mrs. Freeman was a woman of courage. 
She put the saddle on the black horse, 
mounted, and rode swiftly off through the 
darkness. She hoped to reach Jonesboro 
before midnight in order to warn the garri- 
son. As she thought of Edith’s brave 
journey to warn her, a new love for the 
child sprang up in the heart of the loyal 
woman, and she resolved that Edith should 
always be as her own child, loved, sheltered, 
and cared for. Betty went as if she realized 
the importance of her mistress’s mission, 
and before midnight Mrs. Freeman could 
see the lights of Jonesboro. 

There was no trouble for her after that. 
The ranking officer of the day listened to 
her story, and immediately telegraphed to 


THE INVASION OF ILLINOIS 223 


Governor Yates. A return telegram as- 
sured Mrs. Freeman that the homes of the 
loyal people should be protected. 

She was urged to be the guest of the wife 
of the officer in command, but she smilingly 
refused. “The little heroine who brought 
me the message is in charge of my home,” 
she answered, “and I must start back as 
soon as my horse has fed and rested.” 

“You have done your State a great 
service,” said the officer, but Mrs. Freeman 
shook her head. 

“Oh, no,” she answered. “It is the little 
girl, Edith Austin, who is the heroine. She 
walked almost as far as I have ridden to 
bring me the message in season.” 

It was nearly daylight when Mrs. Free- 
man started for home. Betty seemed to 
know that she was homeward bound and 
galloped along as if she had no idea of being 
tired. 

A few miles out from Jonesboro a man 
sprang from behind a clump of bushes and 


224 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


seized Betty’s bridle. Without an instant’s 
hesitation Mrs. Freeman leaned forward and 
struck her captor across the face with the 
whip. With a fierce exclamation he re- 
leased his hold, and Betty sprang forward, 
and for a long distance Mrs. Freeman urged 
her to her best speed. Then, as the morn- 
ing advanced and she began to note familiar 
landmarks, her anxiety lessened, and she 
allowed Betty to walk or to go at an easy 
gallop. 

It was early in the afternoon when she 
rode into the yard. Posy was lowing as if 
to say that she had not been milked. The 
house had a deserted look. Mrs. Freeman 
slipped down from the saddle and led Betty 
into the stable, took off the saddle, and gave 
the horse a pail of fresh water and a feed of 
oats, and then went toward the house. 

Edith was not in the kitchen or the 
sitting-room. Mrs. Freeman called her 
name, but there was no response. Half- 
fearfully she went up the stairs and softly 


THE INVASION OF ILLINOIS 225 


opened the door into Edith’s room. The 
little girl lay there fast asleep. 

Mrs. Freeman went into her own room 
and lay down, and it was late that afternoon 
when she woke up and found Edith smiling 
down at her. 

“I’ve made a fire and got breakfast,” 
said Edith, “only I guess it is supper.” 

“I guess it is,” responded Mrs. Freeman. 
“Well, I made the journey safely, and the 
Governor is going to take care of us,” she 
said as they went downstairs together. 

Edith had spread the little table, and 
there was cold meat, bread and butter, 
apple sauce, and gingerbread, and the tea- 
kettle was boiling and bubbling. 

“You are the most helpful girl in the 
world!” declared Mrs. Freeman. “And the 
dearest and the bravest,” she continued. 

And Edith began to feel that at last she 
had really carried out her wish and per- 
formed a real service for her friend. 

Mrs. Freeman asked many questions 


226 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


about Eliza and Sam, and resolved in some 
way to be of service to them for Edith’s 
sake. 

For a day or two they were both tired 
and anxious and did not go any distance 
from the house. It was the third day after 
Mrs. Freeman’s ride when Captain Zeb 
Stuart came riding into the yard. He 
brought great news. Fifty wagons and 
seventy-five Confederate soldiers had been 
captured on the Illinois side, and were now 
safe on their way to Cairo as prisoners. A 
similar capture had been made across from 
Paducah. 

“I guess this ends the invasion of Illinois,” 
said the Captain, “and you can feel per- 
fectly safe after this. The Union army is 
gaining at every point. I haven’t any 
medal for this small heroine,” he said, 
smiling at Edith, “but perhaps she would 
like a bright button cut from a soldier’s 
coat.” 

“Oh, yes, indeed!” said Edith, and the 


THE INVASION OF ILLINOIS 227 


smiling soldier parted with one of his valued 
buttons. 

“I will always keep it,” said Edith, 
gratefully. 

“I will give you a gold chain to wear it 
on, so that it will always remind you of 
how you saved the State,” said Mrs. Free- 
man. 

“I have other news for you,” said Cap- 
tain Zeb. “I saw David Goddard, and he 
asked me to tell you that he was to have a 
furlough and would be here the last two 
days of October.” 

“That will be Hallowe'en,” said Edith. 

“We will have a party,” said Mrs. Free- 
man. 

Captain Stuart rode off, leaving a very 
happy household behind him. 

“Now, if I could only get good news 
from Captain Freeman,” said Mrs. Freeman, 
“I should feel as if all my troubles were 
over.” 

That very afternoon Mrs. Jones and Puss 


228 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


and Kitty brought a letter from Captain 
Freeman. He said that he would be home 
late in October. 

“Oh, isn’t that lovely !” exclaimed Edith. 
“He will be home for our party!” and she 
told Puss and Kitty all about Hallowe’en, and 
the wishing rings. “But all my wishes are 
coming true so fast,” said Edith, “that I shall 
hardly have a wish to put in the rings.” 

Then she remembered Eliza. “Oh, yes, I 
shall,” she said, and resolved to wish that 
Eliza might have a comfortable home, and 
that Sam might avoid bad company. 

A few days later Mrs. Freeman told Edith 
that she was going away to be absent all 
day. “I shall ride Black Betty, and we 
shall not be home until night,” she said; 
“and you and Tinkletoes must keep house 
for me.” 

“Just as we did when you went to Jones- 
boro?” asked Edith, with a laugh. 

“You need not sleep all day this time,” 
responded Mrs. Freeman. 


THE INVASION OF ILLINOIS 229 


It seemed a very long day to Edith. She 
fed Posy and the chickens, she visited Grace 
in the attic, she knit several times around 
on a pair of beautiful red stockings, and she 
admired her brass button ; but still the hours 
dragged, and she watched the road eagerly 
for a sight of Mrs. Freeman. 

It was six o’clock before Mrs. Freeman 
reached home, but she seemed so happy and 
in such gay spirits, and Edith was so glad 
to have her safe home again, that she forgot 
to be curious or to ask questions. 

“Do you realize that Captain Freeman 
will be here next week, and that David will 
be here, and that Hallowe’en will be here?” 
said Mrs. Freeman, as they sat together 
before the open fire. 

“Oh, yes!” said Edith, happily. 

“And we are going to have gay doings,” 
continued Mrs. Freeman. “I have asked Mr. 
and Mrs. Jones and the twins to come over 
and stay all night, and Hamilton and his 
mother, and we will have the loveliest time.” 


230 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“Can Hamilton stay all night?” ques- 
tioned Edith. 

“Indeed he can. Everything is safe 
enough now, thanks to you, my dear child.” 

After Edith was in bed that night she 
wondered where Mrs. Freeman had been 
that day, and why she did not tell her 
about it. “Perhaps it is some surprise for 
Hallowe'en,” thought Edith. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


A CURE FOR LISPING 

HE very next day after Mrs. Freeman’s 



JL absence Mrs. Jones and Kitty came 
driving into the Freemans’ yard. 

“Oh, Edith!” said Kitty, as soon as the 
little girls had gone up to the attic play- 
house. “School begins next Monday, and 
Puss and I have to go. And,” she con- 
tinued, without waiting for Edith’s re- 
sponse, “another dreadful thing has hap- 
pened. I’ve got to learn to sing!” 

“‘Hi, Betty Martin,’ ” hummed Edith. 
“Not that way,” said Kitty, scornfully; 
“but this way: ‘Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do.’ ” 
“Oh!” said Edith. “Well, Puss can 
never do that. Wouldn’t it be funny to 
hear Puss sing that song Mrs. Freeman sings, 
‘The Sweet Summer Morning’?” 


231 


232 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“But I don’t want to learn unless Puss 
does,” said Kitty. “We always do the 
same things, and now mother says that it’s 
no use for Puss to take lessons because she 
lisps so.” 

Edith looked very sober for a moment, 
and then she said: “Kitty, I can cure Puss 
of lisping. Don’t you remember that I told 
you so at your charade party?” 

“How? How could you, Edith?” re- 
sponded Kitty, eagerly. For Kitty had 
been hearing a great deal about Edith, and 
believed that she could doubtless accomplish 
remarkable things. 

“Well, I’m not going to tell you exactly 
the way it’s done,” said Edith, “but Mrs. 
Freeman told me once about a man who 
stuttered, and this man wanted to make 
speeches, but of course he couldn’t unless he 
was cured of stuttering; and so he went 
off to a cave where it was quiet, and he — ” 
Edith hesitated for a moment and then con- 
cluded swiftly, “cured himself.” 


A CURE FOR LISPING 233 


“But there isn’t any cave near here,” 
objected Kitty. 

“No,” said Edith, “but there is the old 
hay-shed down back of the barn.” 

“I don’t believe we can come over again 
very soon,” said Kitty. “Don’t you sup- 
pose Mrs. Freeman would let you go home 
this afternoon and stay all night ? Our 
attic is big and we could go up there.” 

“That would be lovely,” said Edith. 
“Let’s go and ask her,” and the two chil- 
dren hurried down the stairs. Mrs. Jones 
seconded Kitty’s invitation and Mrs. Free- 
man consented that Edith should return to 
The Corners with them and stay all night. 

Kitty whispered to Edith several times 
about how pleased her mother would be if 
she only knew what Edith was going to do 
for Puss. “Do let’s tell mamma,” pleaded 
Kitty, “I guess it would please her more 
than having you save the State ; ” but Edith 
was firm. 

“I wouldn’t want to tell your mother 


234 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


until Puss had stopped lisping. I don't 
remember exactly, but I'm quite sure that 
the man who cured himself went off all 
alone and didn’t tell any one. But Puss 
isn't old enough to do that; I shall have to 
be with her and tell her just what to do." 

“And I shall be there, too," insisted 
Kitty. 

“I guess so," responded Edith. 

“You girls seem to have a good many 
secrets," said Mrs. Jones, laughingly. “You 
have had your heads together whispering 
nearly all the way." 

“It's only one secret, mother," said 
Kitty, “and it’s a lovely secret. It’s some- 
thing Edith is going to do." 

“Then I'm sure it’s all right," said Mrs. 
Jones, looking at Edith kindly, “for she has 
helped a great many people just by being 
thoughtful and ready to do her part." 

Edith flushed under this unexpected 
praise and became more than ever deter- 
mined to cure Puss of that unfortunate lisp. 


A CURE FOR LISPING 235 


“That's just what she is going to do now/' 
said Kitty, eagerly. “She is going to—" 

But Edith seized Kitty's arm just in 
time. “You mustn't tell," she said, “not 
until it is done." 

“That is a very good plan sometimes," 
said Mrs. Jones. 

“You will know all about it very soon, 
Mrs. Jones," said Edith, “and it really is 
something nice, something that will please 
you." 

“Shall you tell Puss?" asked Mrs. Jones. 

“Oh, yes!" said Kitty. “Why, it's — " 
but another grasp on her arm checked her 
just in time. “Secrets are such hard things 
to keep, and this is the first one I ever had," 
she sighed. 

Before they reached The Corners the two 
little girls had managed to whisper most of 
their arrangements for Puss's cure. “Of 
course I can't tell you all about it until I 
ask Puss if she is willing to do it," said 
Edith. 


236 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


“It isn't anything that will hurt her?" 
questioned Kitty. “Because if it is she 
can't do it. I'd rather have her lisp all her 
life than have her hurt." 

“I don’t believe it will hurt her," said 
Edith; “it didn’t say in the story that it 
hurt the man." 

“Will it take very long?" again whis- 
pered Kitty. “Will it take more than ten 
minutes ?" 

“Ten minutes! It will take hours, and 
seems to me the man in the story was days 
and days being cured, but he stuttered; 
Puss only lisps, so it ought not to take so 
long. But if she can't talk plainly by to- 
morrow, why, she will have to keep on doing 
just as I tell her until she is cured." 

“I do think it's the luckiest thing that 
you came to live with Mrs. Freeman!" said 
Kitty, admiringly. “But it seems as if I 
couldn't wait to know what it is that Puss 
will have to do." 

When they drove into the yard Puss came 


A CURE FOR LISPING 237 


running out to meet them. “Ithn’t it 
lovely to have Edith thtay all night,” she 
said. 

“The girls have a secret to tell you, Puss,” 
said her mother. 

“A thecret?” asked Puss, wonderingly. 
“I gueth I don’t know what a thecret ith.” 

“It’s something that no one must tell,” 
explained Edith. 

“Then I can’t know, can I?” asked Puss. 

The little girls went into the house to- 
gether, and, after Edith and Kitty had 
taken off their jackets and hats, Kitty said, 
“Now let’s go up attic, and then, Puss, you 
can hear the secret. It is something lovely 
that Edith is going to do for you, Puss.” 

‘ 1 Ith it ? ” questioned Puss, happily. ‘ ‘ Ith 
it anything about dollth? or ith it about 
thkool?” 

“Come right up attic and she’ll tell us,” 
responded Kitty. 

“But how will I know which one is Puss 
if she don’t lisp?” said Edith, just as she 


238 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


was ready to explain how the wonderful 
cure was to be performed. 

“But I thall lithp,” exclaimed Puss. 

“That is what the secret is about, Puss. 
Edith is going to cure you of lisping so that 
you will talk just like other people.” 

Then a strange thing happened. Puss 
threw herself face down on the attic floor 
and declared that she would not be cured; 
that it was nice to lisp, and that if Edith 
Austin touched her she would “thkream and 
thkream.” 

“Then of course I shan’t tell you about 
what it is,” said Edith, more in sorrow than 
in anger. “But it isn’t anything hard. I’d 
do it myself in a minute if I were you, Puss. 
The man who did cure himself the way I 
was going to cure you was a famous man.” 

“Wath he a doctor?” questioned Puss. 

“No,” said Edith. “I believe he was a 
sailor.” 

“Didn’t he cut hith tongue looth?” again 
asked Puss. 


A CURE FOR LISPING 239 

“Why, no, of course he didn’t,” answered 
Edith. 

Puss seemed to gain courage from this 
reply, and rose slowly to her feet. “Well,” 
she said, “onth a woman came here, and 
the told my mother that a doctor could cut 
my tongue looth tho I wouldn’t lithp.” 

“It doesn’t hurt a bit,” said Edith. “ The 
way this man did was to fill his mouth full 
of nice clean pebbles and then talk.” 

This seemed very funny to Kitty, but 
Puss still regarded Edith anxiously. “I 
don’t want pebbleth in my mouth,” she 
objected. 

“I tell you what!” said Edith. “Let’s 
go out in the field and get a lot of nice clean 
little stones, and we’ll all put them in our 
mouths and talk, and then Puss will be 
cured before she knows it.” 

“You’ll do that, won’t you, Puss?” 
asked her sister, and Puss smiled again 
and said “Yeth”; and away went the 
children to the field after the little peb- 


240 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


bles which Edith carefully described to 
them. 

“We will have to go up attic to talk,” 
said Edith, “ because if people heard us they 
wouldn’t understand, and up attic we will be 
by ourselves.” 

“ Won’t it be lovely, Puss, for you to be 
cured of lisping? Then you will talk just 
as I do, and we will be exactly alike and no 
one can tell us apart.” 

“Then I can thing, can’t I?” said Puss, 
happily. 

“We will practise singing if you want to,” 
said Edith, “but we’ll have to wash these 
pebbles.” 

It did not take long to wash them per- 
fectly clean, and the little girls were soon 
back in the attic and Puss ready to begin 
the cure. 

“We will put in as many as we can,” 
directed Edith, “and then we will walk up 
and down and sing: ‘Hi, Betty Martin, 
tiptoe fine,’ just like that.” 


A CURE FOR LISPING 241 


“But if I thing I’m ’fraid I’ll thwallow 
the thtonth,” said Puss, anxiously. 

“I guess we hadn’t better sing,” said 
Kitty, and Edith amiably yielded. 

“But we must say words beginning with 
s,” she said; “because, if it wasn’t for s’s 
Puss wouldn’t lisp, would you, Puss?” 

Puss shook her head. Her mouth was 
not very large, and with three fair-sized 
pebbles in it she was very sure that she 
could not speak at all. 

“We can say ‘six singing swallows swept 
slowly seaward, ’ ’ ’ suggested Kitty. ‘ ‘ That’s 
what father has Puss try to say sometimes. 
It always makes him laugh.” 

But at this Puss shook her head more 
fiercely than ever and made strange sounds 
which Edith could not understand, but 
which Kitty at once explained. 

“Puss says she won’t say s’ s. She says 
if she can’t be cured without saying s’s that 
she’ll lisp all her life.” 

Puss nodded to confirm Kitty’s explanation. 


242 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


Edith sighed. “Well,” she said, “I’m 
sure I can’t help it if she won’t do the 
way the man in the story did. Of course 
she won’t be cured if she acts like a 
baby.” 

Puss tried to talk now, but only to spit 
out the pebbles and to cry loudly, “Oh, I’ve 
thwallowed a thtone! I’ve thwallowed a 
thtone !” 

“No, Puss!” screamed Edith, rushing 
toward the younger girl and pounding her 
on the back. “Stand on your head, Puss, 
you must!” 

The little girl quickly obeyed, and a small 
pebble dropped from her mouth. 

“O-oh!” sighed Edith and Kitty in 
unison. 

“I than’t be cured,” insisted Puss. “I 
like to lithp.” 

“And we like to have her lisp, don’t we, 
Edith?” said Kitty, loyally. “The only 
reason we wanted to cure you, Puss, was so 
you could take singing lessons with me.” 


A CURE FOR LISPING 243 


“I thall take thinging lethonth,” said 
Puss. “ Father thaid I could.” 

“Pm real glad, after all, that Puss isn’t 
cured,” said Edith, “ because now I shall be 
sure she is Puss.” 

“Well,” said Kitty, “I’m real glad that I 
know how to cure her, and perhaps when 
we get older we’ll try again.” 

“Let’s keep it for a secret,” suggested 
Edith, and the twins agreed. 


CHAPTER XIX 


the Hallowe’en surprise 

“f MHIS is to be the best Hallowe’en party 
JL you ever went to,” declared Mrs. 
Freeman, as she and Edith made prepara- 
tions for the home-coming of Captain Free- 
man and for David’s brief visit. “It is 
going to be a two days’ party, for the Joneses 
and the Worthleys are going to stay two 
days, and David will be here two days on 
his way to see his mother. And my dear 
husband will be here for two whole weeks.” 

Edith remembered the story of Prince 
Tinkletoes as she made the rings of sweet 
grass and hung them from her bedroom 
window. “I’m sure he won’t go by this 
house without seeing that he’s invited,” she 
thought. In each ring she put a loving wish 
for her sister. “Everything else I have 

244 


THE HALLOWE’EN SURPRISE 245 


wished for has come true,” she thought 
happily. “I know Prince Tinkletoes whis- 
pered to Mrs. Freeman to love me, and now 
she says that I have been a brave girl and 
helped her. And David is a brave soldier 
and is coming home, and oh!” — and here 
Edith gave a little skip of delight, — “every- 
body is coming to our Hallowe’en party. 
Puss and Kitty and Hamilton and all.” 
Then Edith’s face grew a little sober. “I 
wonder if Eliza ever had a Hallowe’en 
party.” 

Edith helped Mrs. Freeman make the big 
pans full of sugar cookies, she stoned 
raisins and chopped mincemeat for the 
spicy mince pies, and she helped pluck 
the fat chickens that Mrs. Freeman was 
to roast. 

Captain Freeman came three days be- 
fore Hallowe’en, and he told Edith that 
she had been as brave as any soldier 
could be. “You are a little heroine,” he 
said, “and I wish you really were our 


246 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


own little girl,” and Edith’s face flushed 
happily. 

“She is our own little girl,” said Mrs. 
Freeman. 

“It will be nice for both you and Edith 
to have a trustworthy man and woman 
living here,” Edith heard the Captain say 
next day, and she wondered what he meant. 
Somehow there seemed to be something 
mysterious going on that they did not want 
Edith to know. “I guess it’s the Hallowe’en 
surprise,” she thought. 

The last day of October came at last, and 
Mr. and Mrs. Jones and Puss and Kitty were 
the first to arrive. Then David came riding 
up on the gray horse, and what a warm 
welcome was waiting for him. Mr. Jones 
and Captain Freeman could hardly do 
enough to show him how welcome he was, 
and Mrs. Freeman called him her “dear, 
brave soldier boy.” How different was this 
coming from the day when, sick and dis- 
couraged, he had slid from his horse at 


THE HALLOWE'EN SURPRISE 247 


that same door an unwelcome visitor, and 
when Edith had led him to a place of 
safety ! 

“Say, you are a real little brick !" he 
exclaimed when Edith came running to 
meet him. “And I am as proud of you as 
if you were my sister." 

Then Mrs. Worthley and Hamilton arrived, 
and as David had a letter for them from 
Mr. Worthley they were even more pleased 
to see him than he had expected. 

“ ‘How beautiful upon the mountains are 
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings/" 
said Mrs. Worthley, gratefully, as she re- 
ceived the letter. 

“Now we are all here," said Edith. 

Mrs. Freeman looked at her smilingly. 
“Why, no," she said. “I am expecting 
some one else." 

“There they come now," said Mr. Jones, 
and Edith wondered who could be coming 
to the party that she did not know, and 
looked eagerly down the road. 


248 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


She could see a wagon drawn by a thin 
white horse coming slowly along. A man and 
woman were in the wagon, and as Edith 
looked she began to wonder who it was. 
The woman looked like Eliza. It was Eliza ! 
And with a joyful cry Edith ran down the 
road to meet her, and in a few moments Mrs. 
Freeman and Edith and Eliza were standing 
together on the steps, while Captain Freeman 
was showing Sam where to put his horse. 

“This is your Hallowe’en surprise, dear,” 
said Mrs. Freeman, as she sent the two sisters 
upstairs together. 

Eliza’s thin face seemed brighter and 
happier than when Edith had last seen her, 
and she had good news to tell her little 
sister. Mrs. Freeman had ridden over and 
had hired Sam to come and look after the 
farm, and Eliza was to live at the Freeman 
place and help Mrs. Freeman. 

“It’s been the saving of Sam,” said the 
grateful woman, “and he’ll do the best he 
can, and so will I.” 


THE HALLOWE'EN SURPRISE 249 


“It’s lovely, Eliza!" said Edith. “I 
guess the fairies found my rings, for I put 
just these wishes into them for you." 

“Did you, dear? Well, I said a good 
many little prayers," said Eliza, “and I can't 
help but feel that they are being answered." 

“Of course they are," said Edith. “Mrs. 
Freeman says they always are answered, and 
when you see Captain Freeman all safe and 
well, and David a good soldier, and you and 
Sam right here, why, I guess it proves she is 
right." 

It was a gay Hallowe'en. The children 
played games — 

“ all that they knew 
Their mothers knew others, 

And those they played too,” 

and when Mr. Jones and Captain Freeman 
played “Oats, peas, beans and barley grow," 
and “turned around to view their land," 
everybody laughed and laughed. 

Hamilton stayed close by David, whom 
he looked at admiringly, and questioned 


250 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


about the army and all that David had 
seen since he left the Freemans. 

When Mrs. Freeman looked at David, at 
his straight figure and soldierly air, and 
noticed the new look of firmness that had 
come into the young soldier’s face, she was 
grateful indeed that her 1 Tittle prayers” had 
been heard and that the boy was on the 
right road. 

Edith went over and stood near the boys, 
listening to David’s account of his ride with 
Mr. Jones’s message. 

“Now tell us how you brought the news 
to Mrs. Freeman,” he said, turning to Edith. 

“Oh, I just walked and walked,” said 
Edith, and she wondered what made them 
all laugh. 

Then Captain Freeman came over and 
stood beside her, and with a hand resting on 
David’s shoulder said: “You all know what 
this brave boy did, saving a disloyal regi- 
ment, and you all know what this dear girl 
has done, — saved our homes from destruc- 


THE HALLOWE'EN SURPRISE 251 


tion and, perhaps, our State from dishonor. 
Now, before I send you all off to bed let's 
give them a cheer. Hurrah for the little 
heroine of Illinois, and for a brave soldier 
boy !" and the room rang with the cheers of 
the happy Hallowe'en party. 

Then Captain Freeman lit candles for the 
guests, and everybody started for bed, for 
the captain told them that he should call 
them early next morning. “I'm going to 
show you how to gather walnuts," he said. 

Kitty and Puss shared Edith's room that 
night, and when they were all snugly in bed 
Edith asked the little girls if they believed 
in fairies. They were both a little doubtful 
on the subject. 

“Well," said Edith, “when I first came 
to live with Mrs. Freeman we had a celebra- 
tion in this very walnut grove where we are 
going to-morrow; and Mrs. Freeman told 
me about a fairy named Prince Tinkletoes, 
who goes about whispering in people's ears 
and telling them to do kind things. I guess 


252 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


he must whisper in Mrs. Freeman’s ears all 
the time, for she is always kind. I named 
my kitten after him.” 

“Did he ever whithper to you?” asked 
Puss sleepily. 

“I’m not quite sure,” replied Edith. 
“I thought he did that night at Eliza’s 
when I heard those men talking; and when 
I tried to cure you of lisping, Puss, I thought 
he did then.” 

“I gueth he didn’t,” said Puss. 

“I wish I could see a fairy,” said Kitty. 
“Do you suppose they live in the woods 
after the frost comes?” 

“Perhaps they have little houses such as 
bees have,” suggested Edith. 

“Leth go to thleep,” pleaded Puss, and 
in a moment all three had forgotten all about 
Prince Tinkletoes. 

The next morning was bright and sunny. 
A heavy frost during the night had left a 
white veil over the grass. Mrs. Freeman and 
Eliza had breakfast all ready in the sunny 


THE HALLOWE'EN SURPRISE 253 


kitchen, and Edith thought she had never 
seen any one look so happy as her sister did 
when she ran to kiss her good morning. 

They were soon ready for the start to the 
grove. Mr. Jones had to return to The 
Corners, so he could not be one of the party, 
and Mr. Stone, David, and Hamilton, were 
to follow the others with kindlings for a fire, 
a small bag of potatoes for roasting, and the 
baskets of lunch which were all ready and 
waiting on the porch. 

“This is another celebration, isn't it?" 
said Edith to Mrs. Freeman as they walked 
together. 

“So it is," replied Mrs. Freeman; “and 
this time it is for Eliza." 

“May I tell her that you said it was for 
her?" asked Edith, eagerly. 

“Why, I will tell her myself," said Mrs. 
Freeman, smilingly. 

“I guess Prince Tinkletoes is a very busy 
fairy these days," said Edith, as she saw 
her sister's face brighten, and heard her 


254 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


laugh as Mrs. Freeman told her about Edith’s 
celebration. 

“You must tell her about Prince Tinkle- 
toes, too,” suggested Edith. 

“Perhaps you can tell her that better than 
I can,” said Mrs. Freeman. 

Eliza listened attentively to Edith’s story. 

“I think Prince Tinkletoes must always 
live very near here,” she said when Edith 
had finished. 

Captain Freeman carried a long pole to 
knock down any nuts which the frost had 
not opened, and each one of the party had 
a basket or pail. But there was little use 
for the pole, as there was an abundance of 
nuts on the ground, and soon they were all 
at work picking them up. 

Hamilton and David built a fire at a safe 
distance from the grove, and potatoes were 
put to roast and coffee to boil, and by the 
time the baskets and pails were filled every 
one was ready for a cup of coffee, a hot po- 
tato, bread and butter, and gingerbread. 


THE HALLOWE’EN SURPRISE 255 


“What did you and Edith do the day you 
celebrated?” asked Mrs. Worthley. 

“We told fairy stories and played hide- 
and-seek/’ replied Mrs. Freeman. 

“I always like a good fairy story/’ said 
Mrs. Jones. 

“Oh, Edith! Tell about Prince Tinkle- 
toes,” said Kitty, and Edith told of the fairy 
who was always suggesting kind deeds to 
people. 

“I don’t see why we can’t play hide-and- 
seek,” said Hamilton. 

“Of course we can,” said Captain Free- 
man. “That’s what we need to keep us 
warm. I’ll be ‘it’ the first time, so off with 
you all and find the best places that you can 
to hide, for I’ll find two or three of you the 
first time I look.” 

Away they all went in different direc- 
tions. 

“Where will I hide?” thought Edith. 
“I wonder if I couldn’t climb one of those 


trees. 


256 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


The trunks of the walnut trees were 
pretty smooth, but one low-growing branch 
proved to be within Edith’s reach, and she 
managed to pull herself up. The other 
branches grew closely together, and before 
Hamilton’s distant-sounding “coo-ee” was 
heard, Edith was well up from the ground. 
There were not many leaves left to form a 
screen, but Edith felt very sure that Captain 
Freeman would not think to look up in the 
trees. 

She did not find it very comfortable. She 
stood on one branch and held tight with both 
hands to another branch. She could not 
look down, and now and then her feet slipped 
a little on the round branch. She could hear 
Captain Freeman running about and calling 
out the names of those he had found. Then 
she heard David say, “They are all in but 
Puss and Edith,” and then Edith called, 
“I’m up in a tree and I can’t get down.” 

They all came running in her direction, 
and in a few moments David was climbing 


THE HALLOWE’EN SURPRISE 257 


up the tree and soon had his arm about her 
and was helping her down. 

“I never saw such a girl/’ he said laugh- 
ingly. “You always want to climb up 
somewhere, either cliffs or trees.” 

“Where is Puss?” Edith asked as she 
stood close by Eliza. 

Every one began searching for the little 
girl, and in a few minutes she was discovered 
under a big walnut tree, happily engaged 
in cracking nuts between two stones. 

“Wath you looking for me?” she asked 
smilingly, as they gathered round her. 

“I should say we were,” said Captain 
Freeman, swinging the little girl to his 
shoulder. “Here is your carriage all ready 
to take you home.” So Puss rode home in 
state. 

As soon as they reached the house Hamil- 
ton and his mother started for their drive 
home. David’s way led in the same direc- 
tion, and his big gray trotted along beside 
the Worthley wagon. Mrs. Jones and the 


258 LITTLE HEROINE OF ILLINOIS 


twins also said good-by, and set out for their 
journey to The Corners. 

“No one but the family left,” said Cap- 
tain Freeman, as they waved their good-bys. 
“Now, Sam, I guess you and I will have to 
look after the horses,” and the two men 
started for the stable, while Edith, holding 
Eliza’s hand fast in hers, followed Mrs. 
Freeman into the kitchen. 

“This is our own truly home now, Eliza,” 
said Edith. 

“Indeed it is,” said Mrs. Freeman, putting 
her arm around Edith, “and you are my 
own truly little girl.” 














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